


House Stark Party

by QueenOfTheEyesores



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Also Sansa/eventual happiness, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, House Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2017-12-24 08:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 52,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfTheEyesores/pseuds/QueenOfTheEyesores
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU. The Starks are throwing a party and all of Westeros is invited for one amazing night. But an unwelcome guest and the reappearance of a familiar face take the night in a whole new direction. The North remembers, and now they're ready for a fight. Arya x Gendry. Rickon x Shireen. 'House Party' in ASOIAF category. Potential SPOILERS for post Season 3 & post ASOS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ages:
> 
> Rickon and Shireen- 15  
> Bran - 16  
> Arya- 17  
> Sansa- 19

The Stark Banner had seen better days. It was grey and old, and looked like it was falling over on one side. It was tattered and faded and there was a tear in the stitching that they all prayed Robb wouldn't notice, but when Gendry looked over at him, he was beaming with pride.

The rest of the Starks were less thrilled.

The youngest Stark was shifting uncomfortably under his brother's weight as Bran struggled to hang his end of the banner. On the other side, Jon was stretching up to match their combined height.

"Okay..." Robb said, narrowing his eyes. "A little higher on your side, Jon. Now lower it, a little higher. Lower it just a bit." Gendry laughed as Rickon rolled his eyes. "There!" Robb shouted. "Right there!"

"Finally!" Bran shouted.

"Don't move, I'll go find the tape." Robb said.

Rickon groaned, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"This is our second House party, everyone knows who's place their showing up to." Bran reasoned.

"Not when there as high as you." Jon joked. "Besides, it's just Robb being proud. You know how he gets."

"Yeah, we know how he gets, but come on, this is just overkill."

"I don't think so." Sansa said, smiling as she came down the grand staircase. Her red hair was half curled and she was dressed, like the other Starks, all in grey and and white. "I think it's just enough."

Robb rushed back into the room, nearly running over Sansa in the process. His hair was tousled and his face was flushed and there was a permanent smile glued on his face.

"What happened to you?" Bran asked while his brother passed the tape up to him.

"Nothing." Robb said.

Rickon rolled his eyes and muttered up to his brother, "Talisa's here."

Robb glared at him, "Just tape the banner."

Sansa stood next to Gendry. "I think Mya and the others are on their way." She said with a tight, nervous smile.

"Yeah, Edric said they left their hotel this morning. They should be getting here any minute."

"Are you excited?" Sansa asked.

"It's just like any other party." He said. This wasn't totally untrue, it wasn't just a house party, it was a House party, as in all the Houses of Westeros would show up and be represented by the kids who showed up tonight. They'd get drunk, and high, and dance and make mistakes, and it really was just like any other party. But if tempers started to fly and House pride got in the way, things could get ugly quick.

"True." Sansa said. "But this year is a bit different."

Gendry nodded tightly. House Baratheon would look different from last year's party.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

He'd never talked much to Sansa before. Gendry didn't come up to the Winterfell Estate often but Sansa had been nestled up here for the last eight months or so. The only link between her and Gendry was his half-sister Mya, who was now standing at the front door ringing the bell.

"Yeah." Gendry said.

Sansa nodded. "Good." She said as she walked away, towards the door. "That's good."

Gendry turned to Jon as he and Robb admired the banner.

"Am I missing something?" He asked as Robb scoffed and walked out of the room.

Jon shrugged his head, "Who knows what she's on about."

When Gendry turned around Bran was standing in front of him, inspecting him, his cane gripped tightly in his hand.

"You're not wearing yellow." Bran said. "Just black. That's not enough."

"It's fine." He said, waving Bran away.

"Not it's not, Gen. This is your first year not being a-" Bran caught himself before he spoke any further.

Gendry chuckled "Relax, Bran. Yellow just doesn't really go with my complexion."

Bran smiled hesitantly as Gendry patted his shoulder.

Robb and Talisa entered from the kitchen, smiling and swinging their interlocked hands back and forth. "Who's at the door?" They asked.

"Baratheons." Bran answered. Gendry shook his head, that word would never feel normal to him.

"Okay, good." Robb said. "More helping hands. Hey, Rickon?"

Rickon was nowhere to be found. "Nevermind," Robb continued, "Bran, you, Gendry and Edric go downstairs and set up the basement when you get a moment. Sansa and I will corral the others and finish getting the upstairs ready."

"Fine." Bran said. "Is it okay for Gendry to say hello to his family first?"

Robb wanted everything to be perfect this year, and he didn't want anyone to forget it. "Right, sorry. But people will be showing up soon so-"

"Good god man." Bran shouted. "It's a party, try and relax."

"I think I'll leave that up to you." Robb laughed.

"You say that now, wait til you got a drink in you." Bran said.

Gendry smiled as Mya, Sansa, Edric and Jon walked towards him... and someone else too.

His eye bulged as he saw the small figure walking towards him, "What in the seven hells is she doing here?" He asked.

* * *

Shireen Baratheon stared in awe as the car peeled up the twisting drive to the Winterfell House, the giant mansion that housed the remaining Stark family. She could hear Edric chuckling next to her and soon felt his elbow poking into her ribs.

"Gods Shireen, it's not  _that_  impressive." He teased. She saw Devan chuckle in the passenger's sear and Mya peering back at her through the rearview mirror.

"At least we didn't completely lie to your mother." She said. "You  _are_  appreciating the beauty and culture of the North."

It had been a tricky few weeks, getting the parental nod for Shireen to join her cousins for a trip up North. Shireen didn't see what the big deal was, but Mya and Edric were insistent.

_"You weren't there last year." Mya said. "You don't know what you're missing. And it'll only get better now that the news has all come out. Things will be different."_

_"It's hands down the best party of the year." Edric said. "Last year shit got crazy. At one point I was in the hot tub with-"_

_"No." Mya had said, holding up her hand to cut her brother off, "None of your stories." Her eyes softened as she looked at Shireen "You're gonna be sixteen soon, really soon, and you're still... slightly sheltered, not that there's anything wrong with that. We just want you to start experiencing things, slowly, with us there to make sure you're safe."_

_"Basically, if you're going to start drinking and doing... other things we want to make sure you're family is there to watch out for you." Devan said._

_"Exactly." Mya smiled._

_"Don't go in the hot tub." Edric said._

A year ago she hadn't had a family, not officially anyway, and definitely not anyone like Mya. She'd known Devan her whole life, and Edric had been under her father's care for as long as she could remember and he was practically a brother to her. But once everything was made final, it was like it all fell into place. Suddenly she more family than she knew what do with. Always watching her, checking in, asking how she was doing, if she was feeling okay, caring so much. One in the east, one in the north, Devan with her in Dragonstone, and Edric in Storm's End. It was overwhelming in the best possible way.

"Hey," Edric said, bringing her mind back into focus as they got out of the car. "This is culture, just not the type her mother would approve of."

Devan nodded, "Besides, rumour has it that this might be the last Stark House party and what kind of people would we be if we didn't let you experience that?"

"Terrible people." Shireen joked, walking up the front walk.

"Shit, awful people!" Edric shouted.

Mya laughed and shushed him and rang the doorbell while Shireen, standing at the tail end of the group, stared up at the giant house.

Edric, impatient as always, leaned forward to ring again but Mya slapped his hand. "It's a big house, give them a minute."

"And Gendry's inside, right?" Shireen asked as she backed away.

"Yeah, of course." Mya answered, turning around. "Where are you going?"

"I just want a look around." She shrugged.

Shireen walked around the front lawn, which seemed to stretch on for miles. She pushed through the rows of Winter Rose bushes and pressed her face to the window. Inside was a dusty room covered in rows and rows of floor to ceiling bookshelves. She smiled and pushed on to the next row of windows. She could hear her cousins still waiting for the door. As she moved away their voices got quieter and quieter.

And then one came through perfectly clear.

"Who are you?" A girl asked, stepping out from the forest surrounding the mansion.

She had long brown hair and her eyes were hidden behind the overgrown bangs that fell over her forehead.

"Who are you?" Shireen echoed.

The girl shrugged, "No one." She said. "No one special." She was looking Shireen up and down. "Are you going to the Stark party tonight?"

"Of course, that's why I'm here." Shireen answered.

"You're young." The girl said, sizing her up. "How old are you? Fifteen?"

"Yes... how did you-"

The girl shrugged, "I'm good at guessing these things. This is your first party."

"Yeah, I-"

"Ever." She said.

Shireen sighed, "Yeah." She chuckled a little, "Is it that obvious?"

"Nah, but you're going to need this." She said, pulling something from her pocket and holding it out to Shireen. She looked down at it. It was a knife, with a brown handle and something carved into it in a messy scrawl.

"What is this?" Shireen asked, taking a small step away from the girl.

"I call it Needle." She said, holding it out to her, waiting for her to take it. "You'll need it more than I do tonight."

"Why?" Shireen asked.

"You never know what might happen. You're a young, pretty, innocent little girl."

"You're like a year older than me." Shireen mumbled.

"People might try to take advantage of that." She finished without a smile.

"Did they do that with you?" Shireen asked.

"Not me. Someone I know. Just be careful." She said, "Go on, take it."

Shireen reached out cautiously and accepted the knife.

The girl watched her. "What's your name?"

Shireen look down at the knife, turning it back and forth in her hands. "Shireen." She said, looking up. There was a small smile on the girl's face.

"A Baratheon." She said.

"Yeah... And you are?"

"Shireen!" Mya yelled, waving her over impatiently. "Come on! We're going in!"

Shireen nodded and stuffed the knife in her pocket. When she turned around the girl was gone.

* * *

The inside of the house was even more magnificent than the outside.

A girl with beautiful, flowing red hair ushered them into the house. She greeted Devan, chuckled quietly when Edric gaped at her and tripped over his own feet and hugged Mya for a good, long minute before letting her go. Her eyes landed on Shireen and she smiled gently.

"You must be the cousin Mya's so crazy about." She said. "It's nice to meet you, Shireen. I'm Sansa."

"Nice to meet you." Shireen whispered as the girl hugged her. "Your house is amazing."

"Thank you." She said, "I've heard your home at Dragonstone is beautiful, as well."

"You should come visit sometime." Edric said, from inside the room.

"Perhaps." Sansa said politely. Though her voice was shaky.

Shireen looked around the room, and the Stark banner hanging in the corner, and found her last cousin standing underneath it, gawking at her.

"What in the seven hells is she doing here?" He said.

"Nice, Gen, way to welcome your family." Mya said, punching him in the arm.

"Sorry." He said, stepping away from Mya. "I  _am_ happy to see you guys, it's just... you brought  _Shireen?_ " He said, pulling his tiny little cousin into a hug and hoisting her up.

She giggled as he put her down and smiled awkwardly at her. "How in the seven hells did you parents agree to this?"

"It wasn't too hard actually." Mya said. "Edric and I were all prepared with this big speech,"

"Filled to the brim with lies." Edric said.

"I prefer to call them half-truths." Mya said. "To try and convince Selyse and then out of nowhere Stannis just said 'Let the girl go.'"

"That was the final word on the matter." Shireen said.

"Hmm." Gendry mused. His eyes shifted down to Shireen. "You'll be careful?"

Shireen rolled her eyes. "Yes. You've told me to be careful, Mya's told me, Devan's told me, my mom has been telling me for the last three weeks, even Edric told me. I'll be careful and I'll be fine."

Gendry smiled awkwardly, in a way that reminded her of her dad. "Good." He said. She returned his smile and then his phone rang and he reached into his pocket to pull it out.

"Hello? Yeah, alright I'll meet you outside." He said, hanging up quickly.

He tapped Edric's arm and pointed to the door.

"Hot Pie's on his way up with the supply for the night, you two come help us get it." He said, pointing to him and Devan.

"Where are the others?" Mya asked Sansa.

"Um, Robb and Talisa are upstairs, Jon and Bran are downstairs setting up the Smoke Pit and... where did Rickon go?"

Mya waved her hand, "Oh who knows with that boy. Let's go upstairs, I need to get ready if I'm going to be standing next to you all night." She chuckled as they made their way up the stairs.

"You coming Shireen?" Mya called, and Shireen followed quickly behind.

* * *

The two girls got ready together while Shireen sat on the bed, glancing at the piles of old magazines she'd pulled out from under Sansa's bed. She flipped through the pages as she listened to Sansa and Mya pace around the room, talking while they got ready.

"So," Mya said, "Is  _she_ coming tonight?"

"No." Sansa said sadly, ignoring Mya's growing smile.

"Good."

"Yeah," Sansa said, thinking back to her conversation, weeks ago. "Good."

_She'd called one night, when Sansa had been watching TV with Robb, while they supervised Rickon as he did his homework, even though he was itching to go out with some of his Wildling friends. They smiled at each other for behaving like responsible big siblings and laughed as Rickon mumbled under his breath about how they were the worst. Then the phone rang and Sansa leaned over, still laughing, to pick it up._

_"Hello?" She giggled into the receiver._

_"Hello, my darling Sansa." Margaery cooed, "How are you tonight?"_

_Instinctively, she turned away from Robb. She could feel as his eyes shifted from the TV screen to her suddenly tense body, curled up on the other end of the couch._

_"Fine. And yourself?" She replied._

_"I'm simply marvelous, Loras has taken me out for my twenty-first birthday tonight to a glorious club on the south end."_

_"You're nineteen." Sansa said._

_"Yes, but I do a very convincing twenty-one year old when the moment calls for it." She laughed. "I wish you were here, Sansa, you really should be here."_

_"Okay." She said awkwardly. She could hear the slight stumble in her words and knew she had more than a few drinks tonight._

_"Anyway, I'm calling because I got your invite to the Stark party"_

_"Well you're welcome to come." Sansa said."I would love it, I really would."_

_"Oh I plan to." Margaery answered. "... And it says plus one."_

_"Yeah, you could bring Loras, or Elinor or-"_

_"Or Joffrey." She interrupted._

_Sansa's breath caught just at the sound of his name._

_"Margaery," Sansa said carefully "I don't know if that's-"_

_"Oh please Sansa? Renly's got his own invitation and he's bringing Loras with him, and I don't want to be all alone all night."_

_"You'll be with me." Sansa said._

_"Oh, you're too cute darling. You'll be spending the night with all your fabulous Northern friends... and that one girl, what's her name?" her voice turned sour at the end._

_"Mya?" Sansa asked. She doubted Margaery had actually forgotten her name. Especially since it had changed so recently._

_"That's the one." She said._

_"Look, with Mya there... and her brothers... and my brothers... not to mention the rest of the North... I'm not sure it's such a good idea if you bring him." She said._

_"Bring who?" Robb asked, muting the TV and turning his full attention to his sister._

_"Oh please Sansa?" She pleaded. "He won't cause any trouble at all, I really do promise. I need to see you, sweetling, and he simply can't be without me for one night. Once we arrive he'll be so smashed he'll pass out on the pool chair and then it'll be just us two girls. I'll make him behave. I promise."_

_"Margaery, I really don't think it's a good idea. I don't want... he just wouldn't be welcome." She said._

_"What about me? Won't I be welcome?" She asked. Sansa could practically picture her face. The pout on her lips, the hurt look in her eyes._

_"Of course you're welcome Margaery but-"_

_Robb ripped the phone right out of her hand._

_"Hello? No, Margaery, that's not allowed. Because I don't want Joffrey Fucking Lannister in my house. I don't want him, or any of his Lannister relatives anywhere fucking near the North. That's my domain. Of course Renly's welcome, Renly's never bothered me, Renly never fucked with my family, he never threatened my father. Mmhm? Well then I guess you're just not going to be able to make it this year. Yeah, here."_

_He handed the phone back to Sansa._

_Sansa sighed. She wanted Margaery at the party, sure the girl had her faults, but who didn't? Sansa had been the same way two years ago and if everyone had abandoned her back then she'd been in a heap of trouble now. Besides that, she truly missed the girl she remembered. The girl who'd been her one true friend when she'd needed it most, despite the turn of events that had taken place towards the end._

_"You're brother doesn't want me to come."_

_"I heard." Sansa said._

_"Do you want me to come?" Margaery asked._

_"Of course, but-"_

_"Oh this is such a ridiculous mess! Why are we all fighting right now?" Margaery laughed. "I don't want to fight, and I know you don't either, so let's stop. I'll come to the party, just me, no plus one. I have something very important to tell you."_

_"What is it?" Sansa asked tiredly._

_"I want to save it for the party, darling." She giggled. "Oh Sansa you simply must come out to Highgarden once the summer begins, you'd fit in so well out there, and it's been ages since I've been home. Our house is so beautiful and my grandmother would love to see you again. We could play tennis, and go swimming, and go for walks and talk like we used to and every night we'd go out and be adored the way we should be by all the fabulously gorgeous men in town."_

_"You've made that promise before, Margaery." Sansa whispered._

_"Well, suppose this time I keep it? Suppose this time I throw you over my shoulder and drag you out to Highgarden myself, like I should have done last year. Oh please, Sansa? You'll see. I'll come to the party and all will be well, I promise. And you and I will be just like old times, just like it should be."_

_Sansa was lost for words, finally she managed to stutter out. "Do you promise?"_

_It wasn't what she'd intended to say. She wasn't even sure she'd said those words out loud until her eyes landed on Robb's shocked face. But she missed the friend she remembered so well, and all her sweet words._

_"I promise." Margaery said._

_She hung up the phone and gripped it tighetly, ignoring Robb's outstretched hand. Her eyes stayed trained on the ground._

_"I don't want him at our party." Robb said, after minutes of silence. He'd sent Rickon away soon after he'd figured out who was on the other end of the call._

_"She said she wouldn't bring him." She said, her eyes widened as she tried to convince herself and her brother of what she'd just said._

_"If she's coming, you can bet he'll find a way to get up here too."_

_"No. She wouldn't do that." Sansa said. Her voice shook as she spoke._

_Robb scoffed, "Believe that if you want, but you're crazy if you think Joffrey is going to let her come up here alone."_

_"It's not your concern." Sansa whispered, holding the phone to her chest._

_"What?" Robb asked._

_Sansa whipped around, her eyes steely and her determination clear. "I said, it's not your concern."_

_"It's my house, and my party." he said._

_"The invitation says 'Stark' and besides she's my guest." Sansa had argued. Robb just shook his head at his sister,_

_"Why are you doing this to yourself?" He asked. Then she threw the phone at him and stormed out of the room._

That had been weeks ago. Some time afterwards, Robb had come into her room, stiff and reserved and said that even though he didn't understand her decision, and doubted she had any real idea what she was getting herself, and all the rest of them, into, he would respect her idiotic choices. A few hours before the party had started, he'd crushed her with a hug and said to come find him at the first sign of any trouble.

"Well, I mean, Margaery called a few weeks ago. We talked and she said she was coming, but Robb and I said she couldn't bring Joffrey so I doubt she'd actually show. Robb thinks she wouldn't come without him. But she wouldn't actually bring him. She wouldn't do that." Sansa said, causing Mya's smile to falter. "Right?"

Mya gaped at her, then shook her head and walked away. "I can't believe we're actually having this fucking conversation."

Silence.

"Mya..." Sansa called. "Are you-"

"Fuck sakes! Seriously, Sansa? Why would you fucking invite her?"

"You shouldn't swear in front of Shireen." Sansa said quietly.

"Like she won't hear worse tonight." Mya called from the bathroom. "Actually," She said storming over to them. "Listen up, little cousin, time for a life lesson. When a boy threatens to beat you, threatens to kill your family, practically holds you captive in his home, then dumps you for the one girl you thought was your friend, then when she tries to help you, he fucking stops her and instead you have to get your creepy uncle to help you escape, YOU DON'T FUCKING INVITE HIM TO YOUR PARTY."

"I didn't invite  _him_ , I invited Margaery." Sansa said. "And... and I think you're being a little overdramatic."

"Sansa, I was with you in the Eeyrie. I saw what he did to you and now you're letting him back?"

"Why is everyone so certain he's coming back?" She said hysterically. "I invited Margaery. I told her not to bring him. Robb told her not to bring him. She's the one who insisted on coming. She heard me say that she couldn't bring him along so what makes you think he'll be here? Nothing's going to happen."

Mya scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Mya," Sansa whispered. "Nothing's going to happen... right?"

Mya's face softened as she ran to her friend's side and wrapped her in a hug.

"No, sweetie, nothing's going to happen. We won't let it, right Shireen?"

Shireen nodded silently as Sansa put a smile on her face, wiped away her tears and walked off to the bathroom.

"I don't want to see Joffrey either." Shireen whispered.

He'd been her cousin once, he wasn't anymore. He hadn't been pleasant when they were related and now that they definitely weren't, he hadn't gotten any more likeable.

Mya patted Shireen's head, smoothing out her tangled, limp curls.

"It'll be okay. Nothing bad's going to go down tonight." She kissed her cousin's forehead. "I won't let it."

Mya jumped up and stood in the frame of the open bathroom door, looking back and forth from Sansa to Shireen.

"Just forget about all this shit, okay? Tonight isn't about any of that. This a fucking Stark Party, at Winterfell, in the North. This is your land, your home, and no one can fucking take that away from you. You got that?" Sansa smiled and nodded. Mya chuckled, brushing the hair out of Sansa's eyes. "Do you want to do something fun to take your mind off of it all?" She nodded. Mya looked around the room and bit her lip, then her eyes landed on Shireen and she smiled wickedly. "Do you wanna give Shireen a makeover?"

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

"Who's that?" Edric asked, his eyes narrowing into the distance. He stood on the Stark's front lawn with Gendry and Devan as Hot Pie parked his van.

"That's Hot Pie's girlfriend, Willow." Gendry said.

"Seriously," Edric mumbled to Devan, " _Hot Pie_ has a girlfriend and  _I_ don't?"

Devan rolled his eyes, "I guess girl's just can't get through to that charming personality of yours."

"Well, my unbelievable good looks do tend to get in the way." Edric mused.

Gendry greeted his friend as they opened the back door to the van, stocked floor to ceiling with kegs and cases of booze for the night.

"Hot Pie, seriously? What kind of bakery are you running?" Gendry asked while Devan laughed in awe next to him.

"The liquor store next door likes to help me out, especially when I offer them a month of free leftovers." Hot Pie shrugged, "There's another truck at the bottom of the hill. But there's still the issue of payment to discuss."

"Yeah, yeah, Robb's got your money inside." Gendry said as he started unloading. "Alright, we'll bring all this into the main room, whatever's in the next car can go straight to the backyard."

Willow and Hot Pie took off down the road to get the next car while Devan, Gendry and Edric started unloading.

"Are you guys sure it was a good idea to bring Shireen here tonight?" Gendry asked after a while.

"You're not her mother, Gendry." Edric reminded him.

"Right, and speaking of her mother, just how much does she know about this trip? How much does Stannis know for that matter? Cuz I doubt if they knew about  _this_ " He said, gesturing to the ever growing pile of alcohol surrounding them "they would've let her come up here."

"They know... enough." Edric said. "Uncle Stannis didn't ask much, to be honest. We had a whole story prepared, he just didn't seem to want to hear any of it."

" _My_  dad was the one who needed convincing." Devan said. "But we assured him Shireen would be well looked after. Practically her whole family's here after all. Even Renly's coming up from Highgarden."

Edric paused and pointed at Gendry, "You're not wearing yellow." He said. "Why?"

Gendry shrugged, "I'm wearing black, that's enough," Edric didn't budge. "Last year I was a Waters. I wasn't here to represent any House, I came to have fun with Jon and Hot Pie, after the year we'd had we needed it. And after everything that's happened this year, we all need it again. So why should this year be any different?"

"Because this year  _everything_ is different." Edric said with a proud smile on his face.

"Yeah, I know it is. You don't have to remind me." Gendry said, thinking of the events of last year's party.

* * *

 

_Gendry had been standing by the drinks table, observing two couples breaking up on opposite ends of the room, and as Jeyne Poole approached him, he sensed a third break-up on it's way._

_He'd picked her up and driven her here, purely out of a sense of duty, not because either of them felt much like seeing each other. They hadn't talked all week and the ride from the road at the bottom of the hill where the Poole household sat, up the drive of the Estate was filled with a tense silence. Once they'd gotten into the house they'd gone their separate ways but now she was drunk enough to confront him._

_"How fucking dare you?" Was her greeting. Gendry tried to peel the red cup from her hand as she sloshed her pink drink on Ramsay Snow and his friends, causing their annoyance to shift over to Gendry._

_"Jeyne, just stop." He said as more eyes turned towards them._

_"No!" She screamed over the music. "How fucking could you? What the fuck Gendry Waters?" She was crying now, hysterically, with snot and mascara running down her face and he felt embarrassed for her._

_Sansa stepped away from her conversation with Margaery long enough to place a hand on her old friend's arm._

_"Jeyne why don't we go upstairs and have a talk?" The older Stark girl suggested carefully._

_Jeyne wrenched herself out of Sansa's grasp._

_"No!" She screamed. Gendry shifted uncomfortably as more eyes turned to them. "He fucking called out her name!" She yelled, pointing at Gendry. "He was fucking me and then he called out her fucking name! Fucking Arya Horseface! 'Oh Arya!' He screamed." She said, dropping her cup as she pushed her small hands against his chest. "'Yes, Arya, yes, oh fuck yes, Arya, right there!'"_

_She was exaggerating, and doing a great job of it. He'd let her name slip once, and it wasn't like they'd been sleeping together every night and he'd been lying, they'd done it once and he'd said it once, on accident, and felt like shit the moment he said it. Her face got all red and blotchy and he pulled away from her and she went running, crying into her bathroom screaming at him to go home from behind the door._

_He scanned the room, thanked the gods that the music was loud and no one could hear them. People were staring confusedly as weak little Jeyne Poole pushed Gendry Waters into the wall, but the only groups that had heard were Rickon and one of his Wildling friends. One of them had a baseball cap lowered over his eyes so all you could see was a dropped, snickering jaw. Rickon, lips were pursed tight in attempt to hide a smile. Then he heard a throttle of booming laughter. To his left his saw Ramsay Snow and his group watching them._

_Ramsay got in real close and squinted at Jeyne, "You do kinda look like her, ya know?" He said, "Like a less psychotic version of her. Hell, no one's seen the bitch in years, maybe you are her."_

_He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into a long, sloppy kiss. Then he began to shout "I kissed Arya Horseface Stark!" While Jeyne blushed and followed him around, too drunk to realize she'd been shamed twice in ten minutes._

_Sansa stared at him, "Um..." Was all she could managed._

_Rickon was still holding back his laughter when Gendry pushed past him and disappeared._

_Later, he'd found Jon moping outside on a pool chair in the surprisingly somber backyard._

_"I just wanna fucking go to sleep," Jon groaned._

_"Why can't you?" Gendry asked._

_"Please, even I can't sleep through all the noise inside. Besides every room with a bed is... in use. I fucking told Robb to lock the doors but he said people wouldn't be that dickish. Idiot."_

_"Sorry man," Gendry said, patting his friend on the back. "I heard about what happened with you and Ygritte."_

_Jon stared into the stagnant water of the pool. "I suppose by now_ everyone _here has heard that I got dumped?" Genry said nothing. "I guess I should count myself lucky that that's not the only interesting story going around." He said turning his eyes up to Gendry. He looked about ready to punch him._

_It was no secret to Jon that Gendry cared for Arya. They'd spent time fleeing from King's Landing together, then a little more time traveling, trying to get her home. And then hen things had gotten all fucked up and he'd lost her._

_After finding Jon in the North, the two had gone around the country looking for her, or signs that she might be anywhere, or even just that she was still alive. Just knowing that would've been good enough. They searched with no results, following any lead they could find, until there was nothing left._

_Jon had always had an idea behind why Gendry had helped him search for his missing sister. Guilt, was one factor, and their friendship was another, but there was something more._

__Then the letter came. She was alive, she was fine, and she didn't want to be found, but she'd be home soon._ That letter had arrived one week ago. And even though Jon had insisted on going out again to look for her, Sam and Robb had talked him out of it. All they had was a letter that contained no information about where she might be, or who she was with._

_"The party is a few days away," Robb had reasoned, "And it's going to be so huge, even_  she  _might_   _show up." He joked, in a failing attempt to calm Jon. He pointed down at the letter, "It says right here she'll be home soon." He seemed so sure. So sure she needed more time, that she was capable of taking care of herself, that she had been for years. All Jon wanted was his little sister back._

_And now here he was, at the party with no Arya Stark in sight. Only him, his best friend, and a hundred empty red cups filling up the Stark's pool. Jon woul _d always remember the look on Gendry's face when his eyes landed on that letter.__

_"Is what Jeyne said true?" Jon asked him. Gendry said nothing, and that seemed to tell him enough. "Gods!" He cursed up to the roof. "She's my fucking sister, Gendry! Not just my sister, my_ little _sister! She'll just have turned sixteen and you're already almost twenty!"_

_"I know." Gendry muttered._

_"We haven't even seen her yet! You haven't even seen her in years! Last time you saw her she was like fourteen, how fucking perverted are you?" Jon shouted, he was standing now, and yelling down at his friend._

_"I'm not a pervert." Gendry mumbled. "I'm the same as you, I thought she was dead, or that she was never coming back. All we fucking had was hope. You kept thinking about finding your lost little sister and I thought of... different things, things that I knew would never come true. But that letter... she's very much alive and has been for years. She's grown up and-"_

_"I will drown you in this fucking pool if you say another word." Jon said. Gendry laughed a little at that, but stopped when he saw Jon's face._

_"Don't you think I feel ridiculous?" He said to his friend. "Do you think I'm proud of this? I didn't plan this you know. I didn't even think I felt that way about her, and definitely not after all this time, after thinking she was long gone. But after we started looking for her... she's Arya. And if she's anything like I remember her, then there's still no one like her."_

_Jon sighed, sat back down and nodded. "She's something else." he agreed._

_"She is. I didn't even know I was still thinking about her," Gendry continued. "After the year we'd had, all the dead ends, I thought I'd given up. I mean, I think about her, now and then. If I see someone who looks like her, just pass them on the street or something I think 'that could be her. Maybe she's back.'"_

_"Is that why you were with Jeyne?" Jon asked. "Some twisted way of pretending you were fucking my sister?"_

_"No." Gendry stated firmly. "Like I said, I didn't even know I was thinking about her in that way that until..." He let the sentence fall short. Unable to recount Jeyne's little story._

_"Fuck." Jon muttered, taking a long sip of his drink before offering it to Gendry to do the same. He chugged the rest of it and threw the empty bottle into the pool where others like it floated on top of the water._

_"Yeah." He agreed._

_"She broke up with me cuz I'm a Crow." Jon said, changing the subject. "Apparently there are several versions of the story going around." Gendry nodded._

_"That's the one I heard." He said._

_"Apparently, someone's saying it's because I'm gay, or because she's gay, or because I'm a eunuch, or because she's not one, if you catch my drift."_

_"I heard she broke up with you cuz you're a Crow." Gendry repeated. Jon sighed in relief. "Course I also heard all Crows are eunuchs so I don't know how lucky you should be counting yourself."_

_His friend ran a hand over his face and through his mop of hair. "Fuck." He groaned._

_Jon stood up and began pacing in front of Gendry._

_"She said I was a Crow, and I would always be a Crow so I should stop wasting her time." Jon said._

_"Well isn't that true?" Gendry asked. After Jon's brief stint undercover as a Wildling he'd met Ygritte, and things had gotten complicated. It had been hard to watch his friend go through that, but Gendry knew who Jon was, even if he was confused about it sometimes._

_"I couldn't do it, I'm a Crow, committed to the laws of the North, and all that shit. I can't just abandon everything I grew up believing."_

_"Is that why you're not wearing the Stark colours tonight?" Gendry asked._

_"Oh don't even get me started on that." Jon groaned. "That definitely didn't make matters easier with her. You suddenly go from thinking you're some useless bastard, stuck in the middle of the two sides, but it's all wrong. You're half-siblings are your cousins and by the way here's a new last name. Fucking ridiculous is what it is."_

_"I don't envy you." Gendry said. And he didn't. He was happy to this day that his father was still some nameless bastard like him he could curse whenever he wanted._

_"When I find out who the fuck sent that information to Robb I'm gonna fucking strangle them." He said._

_"Still no new leads?" Gendry asked._

_"Un-fucking-traceable." Jon stood, and picked up a empty bottle only to throw it angrily across the lawn. "She called me 'Lord Stark'. That one hurt." He was talking about Ygritte again._

_"She's not exactly wrong though." Gendry said carefully. Being the leader of the Crow's came with titles, nice fancy titles that Ygritte despised._

_"So what if she wasn't?" Jon said. "She didn't need to say it! I didn't ask for any of these new names. But she wouldn't hear it! She can just be so fucking stubborn, and proud and she's such a terrible bitch sometimes."_

_Gendry nodded, "You really love her, huh?"_

_He'd seen the way Jon looked at her, and he knew the answer to his own question long before he'd asked it. But Jon was a Crow and that's where his loyalty would always stand. Maybe Ygritte just finally accepted that, or realized she couldn't._

_Jon laughed at Gendry, it was meant to be bitter but he was more than a little drunk._

_"Fuck you, Waters." He said, stumbling back over to his friend._

_The next thing Gendry knew, Jon was thrown into the pool and glass was covering the patio tiles. A wisp of blonde hair and a figure in a black hoodie flew past him and began fighting on the lawn as the partygoers stepped carefully over the glass and rushed out to the lawn to watch._

_"What the fuck?" Jon shouted as Gendry helped him out of the pool._

_"It's a friend of mine." Rickon said, stepping out from the shattered glass. The youngest Stark was only fourteen years old but he was as tall as Gendry and almost as strong, but that's what you get when you're practically raised by the Wildlings. "He's airing out his grievances with Joff." Rickon's eyes were dark and angry._

_"Did he have to air them out through our glass door?" Jon asked, his mop of black curls hung limp around his face making him look like a drowned puppy._

_"Trust me," Rickon growled. "It was necessary."_

_"What does your friend have against Joffrey Baratheon?" Gendry asked._

_"The prick did something to Sansa," Rickon said. "And when my friend found out what, there was no stopping him."_

_"What happened?" Jon asked._

_Rickon's face darkened, "Let's just say you should be happy he talked me out of sicking all the direwolves on him." He said. The Stark's faithful companions had been locked up in the guesthouse for the night, much to Rickon's disapproval. Though now you could hear their howling over the thumping of the music._

_The three of them stood back and watched as Rickon's small friend pounced on Joffrey, his fists a fury of swings and hits as the blonde boy screamed and cried on the ground, his arms twisted up in pitiful defense._

_"Should we break this up?" Gendry asked._

_"Don't you know who I am?" Joffrey yelled as his faced took another hit "I am the son of Robert Fucking Baratheon."_

_"Give it a minute." Jon decided._

_The punches stopped as Rickon's friend growled. "You're no son of his." Then the crowd parted as he stood and walked away. Joffrey got to his feet, preparing to charge at his attacker when suddenly a direwolf appeared and tackled him to the ground. Rickon's friend turned and found Joffrey pinned to the ground under the snarling wolf._

_"Stay the fuck away from Sansa Stark!" The hooded boy shouted as Joffrey whimpered beneath the direwolf._

_Jon looked at Rickon, "The wolf... is that?" Rickon raised an eyebrow at him and nodded before tapping his forefinger to his lips._

_The wolf growled and snapped it's jaw inches from the boy's face before shooting off into the forest, sending a wave of stunned silence through the crowd. Joffrey remained on the ground and Rickon's friend was nowhere to be found. _Slowly, the partygoers dazed and confused returned to their drinks and dancing. Gendry stood there trying to figure out what had just happened.__

_Jon shook his head."Fuck." He grumbled for the umpteenth time. "How do you know everything?" He shouted at Rickon._

_Rickon shrugged, there was a smile on his face that was simultaneously smug and goofy._

_"Stay here." Jon said._

_Gendry rolled his eyes but did as he was told. He sat back down in the pool chair and watched as Joffrey Baratheon whined and attempted to wipe the blood from his lip._

_Rickon reappeared a moment later and clamped his hand down on Joffrey's shoulder, causing the boy to jump. Rickon just chuckled._

_"Look at that," He said, looking down at Joff. "Red and gold."_

_The Rickon sent a punch against his jaw that sent him flying back, landing among the rose bushes._

_"That's for my sister." Rickon growled as he walked up to Joffrey._

_"What did he do to Sansa?" Gendry asked._

_"Besides holding her captive in King's Landing for the last few years? He brought her here to taunt us and threatened to kill her if she talked to one of her brothers tonight."_

_"So she talked to you?" Gendry asked._

_"Nah, she disappeared hours ago. Piece of shit must've sent her on her way to King's already. I just found out."_

_"How? Did she tell on of your brothers before she left?"_

_"No, Joffrey had his fucking eyes on her all night."_

_"Than how?"_

_He grinned mischievously. "Loopholes."_

_He walked away and Gendry shook his head. "Fucking Wildlings."_

* * *

 

It had been one year since that night.

Robb had gone crusading down to King's Landing the next week only to learn that Sansa had gone missing.

And while he looked for her, Jon took a sabbatical from the Wall to go searching for Arya. Gendry had tagged along.

She hadn't come home, or made any more contact after her letter. And still no one knew where she was. That seemed to be the only secret that hadn't come out.

Not long after the party, the news had broken out about the Lannisters. And then the true Baratheons began to emerge from the woodwork.

While Jon continued a fruitless search, Gendry had received a summons to Dragonstone and met Mya and Edric just a few weeks later, as well as Devan, and his little cousin Shireen.

Stannis Baratheon and his wife were cold people, and they'd treated the whole situation less like a family reunion and more like a business transaction. The thought of Stannis'... business partner, the lady with the red hair, still made a shiver run down his spine.

But Davos Seaworth and his sons were good men, and Edric was funny and Mya was kind so all in all Gendry was happy to have met them.

The newfound Baratheons had kept in constant contact since they'd all met up. Edric was still under Stannis' care and preparing to work for him in Storm's End. Mya was traveling for the year, and it was only later discovered she was helping return her friend, Sansa Stark, to Winterfell.

And Gendry, as he had been for three years, was working in the North, in a small garage in Winter's Town. Once the Baratheon business was settled he would scrape together whatever funds he could to keep searching with Jon, and when he wasn't doing that he'd tried to maintain a perfectly normal life. Something he'd mananged to do all too well.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Shireen smacked her thin lips together, and smudged the lip gloss around between them as per Sansa's instructions.

They'd spent the last hour in her bathroom. Shireen had watched the light dim outside as Sansa pulled and prodded at her hair and face.

Shireen gaped at the birthmark of dried, grey skin that canvassed her neck and jawline, it looked like an illusion by the time Sansa was done with her. And in the right lighting it looked like nothing at all. Shireen smiled.

She'd never worn make-up before. But as Sansa Stark gliding the pink and flesh tone powders over her nose and cheeks, and added shimmering shadows to her eyes and a few swoops of mascara, she instantly felt prettier. She still looked like herself, but a new version, and a better one.

Once her make-up was done Sansa added a few curls to Shireen's hair, making it bounce instead of fall in half-dead ringlets. Then the girl's huddled around the mirror as Sansa pinched her cheek and Mya made a face, getting her to giggle as the camera lens snapped shut.

She looked at Sansa, so naturally beautiful, so sure, so prim and proper. Her hair falling in modest curls around her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes so bright and her lashes ridiculously long. Mya with her smooth, clear skin and effortless ease. Shireen felt so lucky to be sitting between these two beautiful women as they giggled and joked in attempts to make her smile although her sides were already in stitches. Sitting between the two of them she started to feel beautiful herself... if she squinted.

Then downstairs the doorbell rang and Sansa stood up straight as a pin.

"I should get down there." She said, her voice suddenly distant. "I have to make sure everything's perfect, we don't want any repeats of last year." Then she was gone.

"What happened last year?" Shireen asked as Mya began to clean up around them.

"Nothing you need to worry about." She said. "Come on, let's get a soda and I'll show you around."

"Does it have to do with Sansa's friend who's coming to the party?" She asked.

Mya nodded, "Yes, but we don't need to worry about her anymore." She grabbed Shireen's hand and together they walked down the back staircase that led to the Stark's kitchen.

"How do you know?" Shireen asked.

Mya smirked, "Because we won."

"We did?" Shireen asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," Mya nodded. "We most definitely did."

* * *

The Starks were congregating in the living room while Sansa was flying around in a panic.

"Alright. Extra towels are in the linen closet, so don't use the good grey and silver ones to wipe up puke, use the cheap one's with the squids on them. We can just throw those out later. I've tucked all the really good valuables in the master bedroom and locked the doors so there will be no sexcapades in our parent's room. Also, there's a first aid kit under the sink in the kitchen... because we don't want a repeat of last year."

Rickon smile to himself as he dialed the phone and held it up to his ear, "I wouldn't mind." Sansa smiled.

"I know," She said, "And that's why you're the devil." Rickon cringed as she tousled his light red curls and planted a kiss on top of his head.

"Don't worry Sansa, everything will be fine this year." Robb assured her. "Rickon will keep his friends under control. As long as everything's covered on your end?" He added, shooting her a knowing look.

"It'll be fine." She nodded, though her eyes looked uncertain.

"I'll say it again: I didn't hear you complaining last year." Rickon muttered, backing out of the room.

Robb was almost as flustered and neurotic as his sister, "Gendry and Hot Pie are unloading everything downstairs, Bran did you finish setting up the music?"

"Yeah, it's all ready to loop through the house all night." He said, limping forward on his cane.

"And is everything set up with the Reeds?" He asked.

"I haven't heard from them in a few hours, but she'll be here." He said. Rickon shot him a look. " _They'll_ be here." He corrected.

Rickon laughed, "Still pining away after your nineteen year old camp counsellor, I see."

"I'm not pining and she wasn't my fucking camp counsellor." Bran shouted. "Besides you still hang out with you're old babysitter, how are you any better?"

Rickon opened his mouth to defend himself but Sansa turned to yell at them from the drinks table.

"Oh my god, you're both pathetic!" She shouted frantically. "Bran you've had a crush on Meera for years and the only time you see her is when you get high with her and her little brother, who is the same age as you. And Rickon you followed Osha around for so long that she was forced to tolerate you. You're both equally, hopelessly pathetic."

Bran frowned, "No we're not."

"Yeah," Rickon said "Besides, he's definitely worse than me."

Robb rolled his eyes and continued on.

"Rickon, you told your friends to keep it down this year?"

Rickon scoffed and shook his head. "Yeah, cuz that'll work."

Robb walked over to Rickon, "Seriously, we don't need another mess like last year." They both looked over at Sansa, who fretting over whether or not they'd have enough ice.

"I'm not going to make any promises, but we should be fine. Then again, it's not really  _me_ you should be asking."

Robb shook his head, "Well, I don't see anyone else standing here."

"Look a little closer." He mumbled before running down the stairs and out into the backyard.

* * *

"Aren't you ever coming inside?" Rickon called to Arya.

She was standing all alone, hidden by the garden hedges that led to the guest house. As Rickon got closer he saw a quick puff of smoke before she began furiously stomping at the ground. Rickon laughed, he'd seen so much worse and yet she didn't want him to catch her smoking.

"Just making sure Nymeria's all tucked in, you know how restless she gets."

Rickon muttered something about "Like owner like pet." but Arya's eyes were stuck on the wide windows that focused in on the top floor, where frantic, last minute party preparations were still going on.

He stood next to Arya and watched. He could see Bran being ordered around by Robb and Jon calling after Sansa as she dragged Mya into the next room. Robb was showing Hot Pie how to rearrange the kegs and Gendry was following behind them, supressing a laugh.

Then Rickon turned his eyes to Arya and watched the way she watched them. She smiled sadly as she watched Sansa laugh and clasp her hands around Mya's wrist, and as Bran said something to Robb and promptly received a playful punch on the arm. Her eyes froze when they hit the corner of the room, where Hot Pie stood, taking inventory of the massive amounts of alcohol he and Gendry had accumulated.

"Oh yeah, Gendry." Rickon said, smirking as he noticed the look on his sister's face as she watched the oldest Baratheon boy carrying a case of beer in his arms. "Have you spoke to him since..."

"No" She said quickly. "No, we haven't talked." She started stampng out the unlit cigarette on the ground.

"Arya?" She ignored him. He gently shook her arm and she punch him, hard. "Ow, seven fucking hells, Arya."

"Sorry." She said.

"Are you ever coming inside?" He asked.

"No." She said. "Not yet." She began looking frantically around the yard. "I'm gonna take Nymeria for a walk first."

"Sure." He nodded as she walked away to the guest house, where the direwolves were chained up for the night. "Run away, again." He whispered under his breath.

He looked in through the basement windows, Mya Baratheon was walking down the stairs towards a younger girl, with long dark hair set in small curls. Rickon watched her, the way she ran her fingers along every inch of the house as Mya dragged her through it. He saw her small, nervous looking laughs. He thought about what it might sound like, he bet it sounded nice.

* * *

"Have you met everyone?" Mya asked.

Shireen shook her head as her fingertips glazed over the edges of the pool table. "No. I've seen everyone though, I think."

"I always think I've seen everyone, but it's such a big group, someone's bound to be forgotten."

Shireen's eyebrows knit together in concentration as she rattled the list out, "Well I've met Sansa, I know who Robb and Jon are, Gendry introduced me to Hot Pie and Willow... plus there was a girl I met outside, but I didn't catch her name." She said, her eyes moved to the knife she'd tucked into her boot.

Mya shrugged, "Probably just some Wildling who arrived too early."

"Yeah, definitely." Shireen agreed.

"So that leaves Bran and Rickon." Mya said. "Bran will be down here any minute I'm sure, and Rickon, well, I'd watch out for Rickon if I was you."

Shireen paused and turned to her cousin.

"Why? He's a Stark, I thought you liked all the Starks?" She asked.

"I do. But Rickon's only really half Stark." She said.

"What you mean like Jon?" Shireen asked.

"No, not like Jon. Besides, Jon's not half a Stark anymore." Mya said.

"Like how you're no longer half a Baratheon?" Shireen asked.

"Yes... no... it's confusing. My point is: Rickon wasn't brought up here, with his siblings at Winterfell, he was really young when their father died, and they lost their mum soon after and now he's... different. He's a name change and one very tall Wall away from being a Wildling. He may not be a part of them but he was brought up around them."

"So that makes him less than a Stark?" Shireen asked, genuinely confused. Mya looked confused to her too.

"No," Mya sighed. "this is coming out all wrong." She said, placing her head in her hands. "Just be careful. He's about your age, he's cute, he's charming, but he can be... unpredictable."

"And that's bad?" She asked.

"It can be." Mya said. "And it might be too much for you to handle. This whole night might be too much."

"Mya it's going to be fine." Shireen said, though Mya's faltering confidence only made her feel worse.

"Just, promise me if you feel frightened or overwhelmed at any point during the night, you'll go to the Stark's library. Don't go into the bedrooms and do not go anywhere near the woods. Promise me?"

"Mya, you sound like my mum." She said.

"I know. And I hate that. But I just can't help thinking how much she and you're dad will kill me if anything happens to you."

"Well it's too late now." Shireen said, staring out the windows to the backyard.

"Not really," Mya said, biting her nails as she paced in a circle. "We could go back up to Sansa's room and get you settled for the night, or the guest house, no that's where the wolves are. Maybe-"

"No, Mya it's really too late." She said, pointing at the backyard as the first wave of Wildlings came crawling up the lawn from the forest.

"Wow." Mya said.

It was like a never ending sea of people, all shouting and laughing and carrying buckets and barrels and crates full of drinks. No colours, no banners, just a sea of people, a never-ending, faceless, nameless horde.

"The library." Mya repeated urgetnly, "Go there if things get overwhelming. And don't forget you've got family crawling up and down this place, just look for black and yellow."

"And Uncle Renly in his antlers." Shireen laughed.

"Yeah," Mya laughed over the noise of the Wildlings, "And Renly's stupid antlers."

Then they came inside and Mya was pushed out of Shireen's view. The music started pounding throughout the house and once she was lost in the crowd, Shireen was finally and truly alone.

* * *

Arya lit another cigarette as she stalked along the perimeter, staring up at the house that was now packed with so many Wildlings they were spilling out onto the lawn. Other people were starting to show up now too, proudly displaying their House's colours and sigils on their clothes.

Arya looked down at her jean shorts, long, black tank top and black hoodie. She still felt like no one.

She took a long drag on the cigarette.

"So this is the great and mighty Winterfell?" A voice said.

She turned to find a girl. A Wildling in a fur vest and tight jeans and combat boots. She pushed her red hair out of her eyes and continued to gape at the estate.

"You've never been here before?" Arya said, offering her a smoke which she happily accepted.

"Nah, heard plenty of stories though." She said.

They both stared up at the house. The girl was trying to hide her awe while Arya was trying to recreate her own.

"And does it live up to them?" She asked her.

"It's something pretty magnificent." The Wildling said.

"You think so?" Arya asked. She only nodded. "It's smaller than I remembered." Arya admitted.

"You were here last year?" The Wildling asked.

Arya shook her head, "Not me. But I used to live here... a long time ago."

The girl looked her up and down and paused. "You're her." She said wisely.

Arya's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Oh, no? I'd be positive it you were if I wasn't so sure she was dead." She said.

"Well, you've painted yourself into quite the corner there." Arya said. "But I'm more interested in who you are, and more importantly what you're doing here."

This girl knew enough about Arya to recognize her and her whole anomalous existence. That fact combined with the red hair and the crooked teeth was enough to tell give Arya a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I've got to see a man about a Crow." She said, stalking off towards the house.

"Yeah, well if you value your life, you'll watch yourself." Arya warned.

"What's a dead girl gonna do about?" She challenged.

Arya smirked, "This is the North, Ygritte, the dead go walking around here all the time."

Ygritte smiled a big, toothy grin, "I like you." She chuckled, backing away from Arya with a smile, "He always said we'd have gotten along well, you know?"

"As long as you don't trample all over him again, I don't see why we can't."

The Wildling nodded. "It's gonna be a good night." She said, smiling up at the darkening sky. "I can feel it can't you?"

She took off towards the house with a ridiculous grin on her face.

"Yeah... one for the books." Arya muttered as she disappeared back into the woods.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Gendry was looking down at the living room, watching as the party took over the house.

He was standing on the stairs, the only place in the whole, giant estate that hadn't been swamped with people, and spilled drinks. It was a perch from which the creators could observe their chaos.

And so Gendry, and Jon, and Rickon, and Bran, and Robb stood along the steps of the great staircase admiring their own handiwork.

"We did good, gentlemen. Lots of preparation and tolerating me and my jackassery is about to pay off. Gendry, I want to thank you and Hot Pie for your generous supply." Gendry nodded to Robb and tapped the edge of his beer bottle to his. Jon chuckled and added his own.

"He seems to have mellowed." Jon shouted to Gendry over the music.

"I told you, once he gets a drink in his hand." Bran said, pulling the joint out of his mouth and putting it out on the bannister.

Robb glared at him, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Spoke too soon," Bran muttered, "Relax Robb, people are gonna do much worse before the night's over."

Robb clamped his giant palm onto his brother's shoulder and grinned ear to ear. "Doesn't really matter. We did good." He said. "They'll talk about this one for years."

"If you say so, Robb." Rickon laughed.

"I do, little brother. I tend to know about these things." Robb said, walking past his brother and down the steps to join Talisa and their friends.

Rickon smirked at Jon as he walked past him, and then followed after, leaving Bran and Gendry alone on the staircase.

They stood in silence until Bran elbowed him in the ribs, "Come on, let's get another drink." Bran said and they headed for the kitchen.

As he passed underneath the Stark banner he spotted Jon getting yanked downstairs by some girl, though he couldn't see who.

"Lucky bastard." He muttered walking into the relatively empty kitchen.

Bran passed him a new beer, "What?"

Jon had some girl already, Edric was whispering in the ear of some Dornish girl in the dark corner of the room, Sam had shown up hand in hand with Gilly, Robb was off with Talisa and probably wouldn't be seen for the rest of the night, Gendry's ex-grilfriend had shown up with Ramsay.

"Everyone's got someone." He said, a sigh snuck it's way into his words.

"You sound as pathetic as Sansa." Bran said, sticking a joint in his mouth and lighting it. He took a long drag.

"Well that's a bit harsh." Gendry said. "But fair." He was eager to change the subject "I don't see the Reeds around."

"She'll be here." Bran said, more to himself than to Gendry.

"Who? Meera?" Bran smiled at the sound of her name. Gendry rolled his eyes "Seven hells, Bran, she's like twenty you know, she's  _my_  age, and you're the same age as her  _little brother._ "

"You're three years older than Arya," Bran countered, suddenly sobered. "But that's not stopping you."

"You don't know what you're talking about." He countered.

"Sure I do." Bran said. "Why else would you be dating Jeyne Poole? She looks like Arya for fuck's sake!"

"Bran, we broke up at last year's party." Gendry said. Bran stared around the room uncertainly.

"Course you did." He said lighting a spliff and placing it between his lips. "Course you did."

Then the curly haired, Jojen Reed strolled lazily into the room.

"Been looking all over." He said, walking up to Bran and pulling the joint from his mouth. He sniffed it a cringed. "That is some weak shit, Bran. Damn, who conned you into buying that?" He threw it in the kitchen sink and turned the tap on, sending small clouds of smoke up between Bran and Gendry "Come on, Meera's all set up downstairs with some premium stuff, that's what took us so fucking long to get here. She was freaking out we'd miss the whole party" He grabbed Bran's arm and the two left Gendry behind in the kitchen. "She's been shittered all night, keeps going on about some giant fucking moose."

Then they were gone, and Gendry was left alone with a warm beer and his thoughts.

A year and one week ago, he'd found out Arya was alive. He could still remember how he'd felt that day, and the day after when Jon had shown him the letter. He could picture her, looking so grown up, and alive, in the standing, breathing, moving sense of the word. With her eyes looking bright and mischievious, and holding a million secrets from all the years she'd been gone. And now, a full year later, nothing.

He took a sip of his drink and ended up chugging what was left of it.

When he lifted his eyes, he found someone was watching him. A man stood in the doorway, looking older than just about everyone attending the party, and yet Gendry couldn't quite tell his age from his face. But something was undeniably familiar.

The man smirked at Gendry and retreated into the next room, his long red and white hair whipped around his shoulders as he turned.

"Where in the seven hells have I seen you before?" Gendry whispered.

* * *

They'd started throwing these parties after their parents had died. After they'd thought Sansa had deserted them, only to discover she'd been fighting to make her way back, after they'd thought Arya was taken away only to discover she'd gone willingly, after Robb and Jon had lost so many fights and Bran and Rickon had grown up away from their home.

The Stark children had grown up so far from each other, which was not the way it was meant to be, but each year they took this time to prove that House Stark was still strong. That's why Robb hung the family banner, and wore a smile that dripped with pride as people flooded into their house. Rickon didn't have the heart to tell him it was really just the free booze that brought them from all corners of the land.

But pride and Houses didn't matter to Robb right now. Rickon knew he was out by the pool with Talisa, happily enjoying each other's company while the party thrived around them.

Rickon smiled and stared down at the party with a satisfied grin. It had always been like this. Robb had Talisa, taking care of everything their parents had left behind, Jon had the Crows and the life their father had wanted for him, Sansa had the South although they didn't keep her long, Arya had school in the East, and Bran had his friends from the Swamps. That left Rickon with the Wildlings: The great mass of half drunk people swaying and grinding with each other in the middle of his living room.

He made attempts to join in and smile along but his eyes were distracted by movement down the corridor. A couple, hand in hand, had made attempts to go into the library and Sansa was swooping in like a guard dog to shoo them away.

She looked nervous and tired and the party had only just begun. Last year's party had been hard on Sansa, Rickon knew that. Not only had their house gotten trashed (they'd even found two of Robb's friends fucking on the floor of the parents room, a place that usually went  _untouched_ ) but Sansa, who was still with Joffrey at the time, had to watch as Rickon's friend had pummeled him to the ground and beaten him bloody. Mysteriously enough, a few weeks later the truth came out, Joffrey Baratheon was really Joffrey Lannister. And suddenly Stones and Storms and Waters were Baratheons instead.

As Rickon was pushed around the makeshift dancefloor, smiling halfheartedly at his friends, he kept his eyes trained on his sister. She had a stack of towels stuffed under her arm and her eyes were stuck to the ground, staring at her shoes. She'd spent hours preparing for the party, bought a new outfit, Rickon couldn't believe he knew that, and spent hours doing her hair and make-up. She'd been excited for weeks, although that quickly turned to anxiety as the party grew closer.

And still no one notcied her. She worked endlessly and tirelessly and she deserved to have someone pay her some attention.

Rickon pushed through the crowd of people and walked over to her side, silently coaxing the towels out of her hand,

"No one can go in there." She shouted nervously.

"I know, Sansa." He said.

"That room is off limits, but Robb wouldn't let me put up signs. I need to make sure no one goes in there." She ranted.

"It'll be okay, Sansa, go enjoy the party." Rickon said.

"No, Rickon, I'm fine. I'm just looking for Mya, she said she'd be back soon, she was dropping coats off in the bedrooms, and... Rickon." She was using her big-sister-warning-voice as he placed the towels on the floor. A group of kids walked by, half-baked with a sack of pills in their fist, tried to enter the library but Sansa shook her head,

"No it's-"

"Fuck off." Rickon shouted at them. "And spread the word: This Fucking Room Is Not For Public Fucking Use." He said, grabbing his sister's hand.

"Smoke room's in the basement." Sansa yelled, pointing to the staircase leading downstairs, it was barely visible through the green tinted smoke rising up it.

Rickon dragged her to the middle of the floor and smirked as everyone around her danced while she just stood there dumbfounded.

She wasn't sure what he was doing. Rickon was a silent, snarky, surprisingly observatory fifteen year old boy. But now he was smiling and laughing and dancing around her and she realized he was being uncharacteristically goofy.

Sansa gave in and started to dance. The Wildlings weren't a particularly graceful bunch, and when Sansa had imagined dancing with a boy at this party she didn't expect it to be her little brother, but nevertheless she was smiling and laughing and dancing around like an idiot until was out of breath.

"Why are you doing this?" She screamed over the music, though by this time her voice was hoarse from laughing.

"It's nice to see you smile." Rickon yelled over her words, giving her a sort of half answer. She smiled and continued dancing until she felt a pair of fingers prodding her back. She turned to find Mya Baratheon smiling widely at her.

"You look amazing!" Mya shouted as she began to dance just as carelessly as the Wildlings surrounding them. Mya reached forwards and grabbed Sansa hand, "If we're going to keep this up, I'm gonna need a strong drink." She shouted.

Sansa's cheeks felt tired from smiling.

"Rickon, do you-" But Sansa stopped short. Her little brother was already nowhere to be found.

* * *

Shireen had finally made it to the library. It was hard for such a small person to push through such a noisy, drunken crowd but she'd made it. And now she was leaning against the double doors and breathing heavily, happy to be safe and alone.

Her breaths slowed and she looked up at the room around her. It looked less dusty than it had when she peered in through window. The stacks of books seemed inviting instead of forgotten and the soot covered fireplace didn't seem as menancing anymore.

She smiled to herself, as she began perusing the shelves, and let her fingers run along the desk in the centre of the room where it looked like nothing had been touched for ages. She pulled her fingers away and they were coated in dust. She wiped it away and drew a swirling 'S' along the empty desktop, then she continued along the rows and shelves.

The library had astonishing sound proofing abilities. The shaking of the walls was barely felt as the music pulsed outside and the thumping bass line was reduced to a mean hum. It wasn't as large as the library at Dragonstone, but it was new to her, and that was enough to make it the best place in the world.

She'd grown up alone on the island of Dragonstone. Just her, her mother, her father, and everyone else inhabiting the island. But she didn't get to meet anyone, or talk to anyone, or really see anyone. Then Edric came along, and her father said he would be staying with them. Then her Uncle Davos came to work for her father. He wasn't her uncle then but he became her Uncle quickly enough, and his son Devan was a few years old then Edric, who was a few years older than Shireen, so they all played together and gotten along well.

Of course now she was grown up, a full fifteen years old. Now she understood that her true Uncle Robert had had a son with some woman who wasn't Cersei Lannister and that son wasn't welcome in King's Landing so long as the Lannisters were in charge. That explained Edric. And she understood that her father was viewed as a very cold man, very calculated and unfeeling, but her Uncle Davos advised him and helped him and people liked Davos Seaworth and his sons, especially her father. So that was why they'd stayed around since she was six. And Shireen understood that Melissandre saught to her family's spiritual needs as well as advising her father, and doing a few others things she didn't want to understand. She didn't think about those things much. But that explaned the lady in red.

She'd come to learn that Westeros was a very big place, and that Dragonstone wasn't as big as she'd thought, and that her mother was a very nervous creature, and that for a full grown fifteen year old girl she hadn't really done much. In fact she hadn't really done anything.

Shireen's fingers absentmindedly stroked the pale, crusted birthmark running down her neck as she thought of how much her mother hated that she'd decided to travel North with Mya and Edric. And how quickly her father had let her go. And how after all the worry and planning, she was here, at the party, and she wasn't even enjoying it very much.

She found herself in the section devoted to the history of Westeros, something she'd always loved to read about, but before she could pull a book off the shelf, the doors to the library burst open.

A boy and a girl stumbled in, attached at the lips, their legs were intertwined as they tripped over each other's feet and stumbled blindly into the room.

Shireen hid behind the shelf, watching as a boy with curly reddish-brown hair ran his hands down the girl's back, cupping her butt and hoisted her legs up around his waist. He walked her over in the direction of the desk but stumbled and they slammed against a shelf nearby. The couple chuckle as they slid to the ground and Shireen could tell the girl was drunk. She was too unsure to move. The two of them were sprawled out on the floor and blocking her path to the door. And besides, there was something else in her way now.

"GET THE FUCK OUT." A voice boomed from the hall. A tall man stormed into the room, looked down at the couple with their red, swollen lips and shifted clothing, and shouted it again. "This room is off limits. GET THE FUCK OUT."

The couple got up and the boy, adjusting his shirt, looked up at the one who'd stormed in, "You shouldn't speak like that to me, Robb told me I was welcome here again."

"I'll deal with Robb later then, but you can't be in  _here_." He pointed to the ground. The couple began to leave when he stopped the girl, "Also, Theon Greyjoy? Really?" He stared into her eyes with a disapproving look, "You could do better."

The couple scurried out and separated once they left the room. But the other man stayed back. Shireen watched him, he looked younger than he sounded. He was tall and in dire need of a haircut and at first sight he looked all grown up, but no she realized he couldn't be much older than her. He walked over to the desk and began to pick up the items the couple had knocked over, placing them back within the confines of their dusty boundaries.

He looked down at the lettering Shireen had traced onto the wood and smiled, running over it with his own finger. She leaned forwards absentmindedly and all at once, he turned around, his eyes narrowing in on her, the sheer force of them knocked the breath out of her.

"You really shouldn't be in here." he said, tiredly.

"Yeah, I know." She said. "It's just, my cousin said I could come in here if things got to hectic and-"

He smirked, "You think this is hectic? This is only the beginning."

"I'm just not used to all this." She said, crossing her arms around herself defensively.

"Well, hiding out in here isn't going to help you get used to it." He said. "Where are you from?"

"Dragonstone." She said. "Why?"

A look of understanding washed over his face, "You're Shireen."

Her hand flew up to her face, and the mark spanning her neck and jaw.

He shook his head. "Nah, your cousin, Mya wouldn't shut up about you earlier. Kept saying it was your first time away from home." He said. His eyes followed her hand as she lowered it from her neck.

"You know my cousin?" Shireen asked.

"Of course, she's my sister's best friend." He said.

Shireen nodded, "You're a Stark."

"And here I thought it was obvious." He said. "Though I've been told I look more like a Tully." He reached down and traced the S she's drawn on the desk. "S for Stark."

"And Shireen." She whispered.

"Yeah." He said, turning to look at her again. He held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you, Shireen."

"It's nice to meet you too,"

"Rickon." He said.

Shireen froze but that only made him chuckle.

"So my reputation still precedes me?"

"What?" Shireen said, trying to cover her shock. "No, not at all I-"

"No no, please, enlighten me. What have you heard?"

"Honestly, I swear it wasn't-"

"Was it just the whole raised by Wildlings thing, or was it something a bit more original?"

"That was the gist of it," Shireen said. "I think."

"I'm not unstable. I'm perfectly capable of behaving myself around human beings."

"It was never suggested that you couldn't." She said.

"I'm not like you, I wasn't shut up in tower for fifteen years, I was forced out of one." He said, sitting on the edge of the desk.

Shireen cautiously took a seat next to him.

"Well, towers aren't all they're crack up to be, believe me." She thought of Dragonstone.

"Is this really you're first time away from home?" He asked. Shireen nodded, "That's a long way to go. How does it feel to be out?"

"I'm still huddled up in a library, so I can't say it feels like a very big change." She said.

"This was my father's library, this was his desk. Sansa's been paranoid all night that someone would break in here and touch it, move things from the way he left them, breath the same air he breathed. I don't tell her, she likes to believe the room hasn't been touched in six years, but I still come in every once in a while and sit in his old seat and just... think. I try to keep it as intact as possible."

"Hence the dust." Shireen said.

"Yeah, I don't dust." He added.

"So, what do you think about when you come in here?" She asked.

"I try to figure out what my father spent all his time in here thinking about." He said, staring over at the empty fireplace, "I never get very far."

He stood up all of a sudden, "Well, come on, there's a party out there, it's your first and probably my last and we shouldn't spend it in here."

"I don't know." She said shakily.

"With me by your side, all night, nothing can go wrong." He said, walking towards the door.

"All night?" She asked.

He nodded and opened the door, then turned back to extend his hand.

Shireen walked forward. She didn't know why Mya was so afraid. At first he'd seemed frightening, but he was kind, and charming, and yes, he was cute. He had a goofy smile and curly hair that didn't quite match his height and strength.

  
_'But I'm not in any danger'_ She thought as she followed him out of the library, down the corridor, and into the party. Rickon turned and grinned at her as he led her through the crowd.  _'No danger at all.'_  



	5. Banshee Beat

Sansa was retreating to her room for the fifth time that night. She walked in with her phone pressed to her ear and was happy that this year she hadn't found a half-naked couple... coupling on her bed.

"Margaery, it's Sansa. Please answer. I need to know if you're coming to the party tonight, and if you are, I need to know if you're bringing... anyone. I know nothing can stop you from doing whatever you're going to do, but I think at the very least you owe me some warning. Please, please Margaery. Call me."

She hung up the phone and collapsed onto her bed.

Mya burst into the room a moment later, laughing like mad. A crown of antlers was sitting on top of her dark hair.

"You are missing what might've been the greatest game of beer pong in my career. Seriously, I just beat Uncle Renly, who had to forfeit his crown, you are looking at the new," She tipped the crown so it sat lopsided. "King."

Mya smiled and sat next to Sansa, "Why are you still hiding out in here? You should come downstairs, it's a great party. And once Asha beats Theon it'll be even better. She and I are going to duel."

"Renly's here?" Sansa asked.

"Duh." Mya said, pointing to her newfound crown.

"If Renly's here, Loras is here," Sansa said.

"Yes the Flower Boy did make an appearance." Mya added.

"And if Loras is here, that means if Margaery was going to come, she would be here too."

Mya seemed to sober at once. "Sansa, you need to stop fretting over this one, insignificant detail."

"Did you see her?" Sansa persisted.

"No," Mya said, rolling her eyes. "I didn't care enough to look."

"For me? You couldn't have looked for my sake?"

Mya stood and walked to the door, "You can come look yourself, I'll even join you. And once you see that she's not here, because she had enough common sense to stay in the South, you and I can start  _enjoying_ this party." She held out her hand, "Come on."

Sighing, Sansa relented. They walked down the winding staircase, into the basement, though a flash of light from the kitchen caught her eye. She chose to ignore it.

"Welcome to the Swamp!" Jojen shouted, popping up from out of nowhere and offering them each a joint. His skin was tinted green by the strings of lights Bran had set up earlier.

"We're just passing through." Mya said, taking one from his hand and continuing on. Outside, next to the pool, the game was still going on.

Robb and Talisa were sprawled out on a pool chair, overseeing the beer pong tourney. Robb smiled as Talisa leaned up to whisper something in his ear. Nearby, Loras was consoling Renly over his loss on the nearby pool chair.

"Hey, Renly. Hey, Loras. How are you?" Sansa asked carefully.

"I'd be a lot better if I  _still had my crown._ " He said, glaring at Mya who was smiling and waving behind Sansa.

"I'm ready for a rematch whenever you are, Uncle." Mya smirked.

"Anytime." Loras taunted.

"Do you always let your boyfriend do your talking?" Mya said. Renly ignored her japes.

"How can I help you, Sansa?" He asked.

Sansa took a deep breath.

"Did Margaery come here with you tonight?"

"No." He said, noticing the look of sad fear on the Stark girl's face. "She didn't come here with us."

"She's on her way though," Loras said. Sansa could see Mya tensing behind her. "And I think you'll be quite interested to see who she brings with her."

"Who?" Sansa and Mya asked in unison.

"Can't ruin the surprise, I'm afraid." Loras said, sharing a giddy smile with Renly.

"It'll be fine, Sansa, don't worry." Renly assured her.

Sansa felt a hand slip into hers. She looked up and found Mya, she always found May.

"There," She said, "Nothing to worry about Sansa, so let's go dance." She led her further onto the lawn, where a group of people were moving to the music that spilling out of the speakers littering the lawn. She turned back to Renly and winked, "I'll beat your ass again later."

* * *

Out in the Stark's backyard, Gendry started to search for Jon. Robb was happily ensconsed in Talisa's arms, and he'd just enjoyed watching Asha Greyjoy kick Loras Tyrell's ass in beer pong for the third time that night. Bran was inside with the Reeds, so high out of his mind that he probably no longer knew his own name. Hot Pie and Willow were being all couply with Sam and Gilly on the balcony, all drinking responsibly and watching the party like they were parents watching over children who were bound to misbehave. Edric was drunk and grinding with some girls in the living room, and Mya had the loopy smile on her face that she got when she was more than slightly tipsy.

Gendry had had a few drinks but nothing too crazy, ever since he'd found out who his father was he'd been more careful about how much he drank, lest history should start to repeat itself.

"Have you seen Jon?"

He turned and saw a girl standing next to him.

She had long brown hair, with overgrown bangs that stuck to her eyelashes. Dark, long eyelashes that fringed her eyes. The girl was short and skinny and wore all black. Black boots, black bracelets, and a long, loose, see-through black tank top with a black, lacy bra underneath that he couldn't help but notice. He might've mistaken her for a Crow, but they didn't let girls join their ranks. But she  _was_ looking for Jon.

"Uh, no." Gendry said "Haven't seen him."

Maybe this was the girl Jon had gone off with earlier?

"I'm sorry... have we met?" Gendry asked.

A smile slowly grew onto her face, "Oh you sweet, stupid Bull." She said, shaking her head and letting her hair fall away from her big, grey eyes. Gendry's eyebrows cross together in confusion. Only one person called him that. By the time Gendry could figure out who he'd been talking to she was already out of reach, weaseling her way through the crowd and out of his sight.

He stared in awe at the place where she'd stood. She'd been right next to him and now she was gone. Again.

"You would not believe the night I am having." Jon said, suddenly appearing next to him, out of breath. His hair was more disheveled than usual and there was a smile on his face, but it faltered as he noticed the look of shock on Gendry's, his eyes began to scan the crowd. "What?" He asked "Did I miss something?"

Gendry ran a hand over his face, of course Jon would choose this moment to reappear. "You didn't tell me Arya was back in town." He mumbled.

"What?" Jon asked, leaning in to his friend.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ARYA WAS BACK IN TOWN!" He yelled.

"She's not." He said seriously. "Don't fucking play around."

"I just saw her." Gendry said.

"And where the fuck do you think you saw her?"

"Right here. She just walked up to me and started talking. Then she took off that way." Gendry pointed over to the dancefloor but kept his eyes trained on Jon. "She's still the same height, wearing all black, her hair's longer and-" Jon's eyes widened and his jaw tightened. "What? Do you see her?" Gendry asked.

"Yeah. I see her." Jon said, his fists were clenched and his face was pale. "Now, since you seem to know everything, all of a sudden, why don't you tell me who the fuck is  _he_  and why is he touching my sister?" Jon asked, he looked ready to charge but Gendry held him back, then he turned his eyes to look.

He found her standing in the middle of the dancefloor, and standing uncomfortably close to her was the man Gendry had seen in the kitchen earlier, with the hair, half red, half white. Gendry swallowed his rage as he watched the man slide his hands over Arya's tiny body. She seemed not to mind him, in fact she seemed to be enjoying it, allowing herself to melt against him, form into him, move and press up to him.

The song had a terribly slow, seductive beat to it and Gendry hated that he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her eyes were covered by her hair again and she had this devilish smile on her face as flicked them up to meet his. She truly looked like a completely different person, and although that girl looked incredible, he wanted to see Arya Stark again too.

"Seriously, who the fuck is that?" Jon asked, still pushing against Gendry's grasp.

"You two are terrible dancers." Robb joked, walking drunkenly down the lawn to meet them. "Your form is all wrong. Have I taught you nothing?" He slapped Jon on the back, so far oblivious to his anguish.

Jon fought from Gendry's hold and straightened out his shirt. "Well, maybe our little sister could teach you a thing or two." he suggested, pointing Robb in Arya's direction. "She seems to have learned a few things since we last saw her."

Robb's eyes glanced over the other dancers, no doubt searching for Sansa, before finally landed on his other, younger sister. His eyes widened. Watching their baby sister grinding against a much older man definitely had a sobering effect on the Stark boys. It wasn't like last year when they'd found Rickon passed out on a pool chair with his hand up some girl's shirt. He was awoken by applause.

"Who the fuck is that?" Robb shouted.

"I think I know him." Gendry said, too quietly for either of them to hear.

"Jon, do you know who in the seven hells is dancing with our sister?" Robb shouted.

Their eyes stayed trained on Arya as they shouted back and forth.

"Do I look like I know who the fuck that is?" Jon yelled. Gesturing into the crowd only to have his arm slapped down by Robb.

"What are you all staring at?" Rickon asked, appearing next to them.

Gendry, still trying to figure out where he recognized the man from, was the only one to respond. He pointed into the crowd and let Rickon piece the rest together himself.

His eyes landed on Arya, then he shrugged and muttered "Some big reveal." before turning to talk to Jon.

"Hey," He said, "Hey," He waved his hand in front of Jon's eyes and shook his shoulders but his eyes didn't budge. "Jon, can I talk to you for a minute?" No response. "I need to ask you something. Robb? Gendry?"

Rickon stared at them all, with their eyes unresponsive and glazed over. The two Stark boys were mad as hell and Gendry was stuck in a state of supercharged confusion. "Seven hells." Rickon swore, then he threw Jon over his shoulder and pushed the other two in the direction of the house. Jon fought against him and Robb tried to yell at Rickon when he grabbed his arm and pushed him along but once they reached the basement, or the thick fog of smoke that used to be the basement, there was no more arguing. Rickon threw them into one of the relatively empty guest bedrooms and slammed the door shut.

"JON." He shouted. "DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION YET?"

But he didn't have their attention, not yet. The music was pumping all through the house and the sound of it permeated through the walls so that Jon and Gendry refocused their attention on the door, and the bass line that was shaking it off its hinges.

Gendry could still picture her out there. He could see the beads of sweat rolling down the back of her neck, making her strangely long hair stick to her shoulder blades. Last time he'd seen her she'd hacked it off to her ears. He pictured her loose shirt as she wriggled and swayed underneath it, letting it reveal more and more of that lacy bra, and her pale ribcage.

Maybe she wasn't dancing anymore, he thought. Maybe she had taken that man by the hand, and moved him upstairs to her room. Her old room. It wasn't so insane. She wasn't twelve anymore, one look at her had shown him that. Maybe he was pulling off her shirt, lifting it over her head as she held her arms in the air, and maybe he was running his hands over her skin. Or maybe she'd grabbed him, pushed him into the room, slammed the door and pushed him onto the bed, not caring about the direwolf posters on the wall or the old fencing trophies, and then she pulled off her own clothes. Sliding the shirt over her head, never breaking eye contact, wiggling her small hips out of her black jeans, easy as dancing, reached around to her back to unhook her bra, or maybe he unhooked it for her...

"Gendry what the fuck?" Robb shouted at him.

Gendry turned his focus back to the room. He was standing alone, next to the door. His hand was clenched into a fist and the music was suddenly coming through much clearer. Jon and Rickon and Robb were staring at the hole he'd punched in the wall.

Gendry looked down at his hand, at the red tinge of blood that was coating his knuckles, and uncurled the fist before opening his mouth to speak. Rickon just laughed,

"Wow, Gen" He said "You are fucked."

They were all still staring at him.

"Rickon," Gendry said, still flexing his hand. "Weren't you trying to say something?"

Rickon nodded and turned to Jon, "She told me to say that she's waiting for your answer."

Jon sat there, contemplating everything for a moment.

"What are you still standing here for? She won't wait for-fucking-ever!" Rickon shouted at him, shaking his head. "Go get her!"

Jon looked up at Rickon and nodded, his smile growing more confident with each second. He turned pointed to Gendry, "Don't fucking let her get away again." He said, before practically running from the room. "I'll be right back."

The rest of them stood in silence for a moment, Gendry's mind a confused swirl of Jon's sudden departure and Arya's dancing replaying in his head.

"Lousy fucker," Rickon muttered, smiling at Jon's departure. "I've got to go, I left Shireen alone upstairs for a few minutes."

Gendry's eyes snapped to attention. And Rickon smiled, sensing the tension. "Don't worry, nothing's going to happen to her." He said, backing out of the room.

"Very reassuring." Gendry muttered.

Robb patted him on the shoulder, "She'll be fine. Rickon's not so bad."

"It's not just Rickon I'm worried about." Gendry said.

There was a sound of coughing and wheezing from the corner of the room and through the smoky haze Bran looked up at them. Meera Reed was sprawled out on the floor next to him and Jojen was sitting on top of the bunk bed Bran and Rickon used to share.

Bran waved some smoke out of his eyes and squinted up at them.

"What happened to the wall?"

* * *

At a quarter to one in the morning, Sansa and Mya were in the middle of the dancefloor. Guys were surrounding them, watching them dance, placing hands on their hips trying to weasel there way in but Mya pushed them all away. Sansa pulled the bottle to her lips and took another sip before passing it to Mya.

She turned, found a cute nameless boy and danced up against him while Mya drank and danced behind him.

"Are we having fun yet?" Mya shouted to her over the boy's shoulder. Sansa laughed and nodded and placed and thankful kiss on her friend's cheek.

But her happiness didn't last long.

Something caught Sansa's eye from the kitchen doorway, pulling her towards the room. She could've sworn she saw...

"Sansa, what's wrong?" Mya shouted, shooing away the guys who tried to grab hold of them as Sansa made her ghostlike trek towards the kitchen.

She seemed to glide through the crowd effortlessly while Mya had to claw and shove everyone in her path just to keep up. By the time she made it into the kitchen, her friend had already been there, staring helplessly at the scene in front of her.

"Oh shit." Mya whispered to herself when she saw who was in the room.

It seemed a group had taken over the kitchen to form their own little party. They were laughing and drinking, and doing absolutely nothing wrong. It wasn't the loudness, or the game, or the spilled drinks coating the table that were the problem, it was the people sitting at it.

Joffrey Lannister, Maergery Tyrell, and a horde of blonde Lannisters had overtaken the kitchen table and were clapping and cheering while Joffrey supposedly 'dominated' at their drinking game.

When he noticed who was watching them, he shushed the table, spit flying from his lips as he waved his hands around him franctically. "Everyone be quiet." He shouted.

"Well, well, well," He said, rising from the table. "If it isn't Sansa Stark."

Sansa said nothing.

"Come to join your old friends?" He taunted. Sansa still didn't speak.

Behind Joffrey, Maergery Tyrell sat at the table with a sweetly innocent smile on her face. She wiggled her fingers at Sansa, though her smile flickered when she noticed Mya.

"You don't belong here, anymore." Joffrey said slowly.

"This is the Winterfell Estate, the pinnacle of the North, and the home of the Stark family." Mya said "And you think  _she's_  the one who doesn't belong?"

"Shut up!" Joffrey snapped at her.

"What are you even doing here?" Mya yelled. "You weren't invited. Nobody wants you here!"

"No one asked you, dyke!" Joffrey screamed.

Mya didn't care, Joffrey Lannister's words meant nothing to Mya Baratheon, not anymore.

Margaery's hand on Joffrey's arm pulled him back from his rage. He sat down, smiled at his girlfriend and place his hand around her shoulders.

"Margaery and I have wonderful news, we're simply here to share it." he said.

"Not here, Joffrey." Margaery said, smiling demurely as her eyes ducked to the floor in what Mya was sure was false modesty.

"No." Joffrey said. "Here is fine."

Margaery bit her lip, "Well, you did promise you'd let me tell her." She said. Joffrey waved his hand,

"Very well."

Margaery kissed his cheek before floating over to Sansa's side, holding her hand out in front of her.

"We're engaged." She whispered, as simple as that.

Mya's eyes flicked from the giant ring, to Sansa, and back again repeatedly. She was waiting for Sansa's reaction but her friend was stuck in a state of shock, so she looked over at Margaery.

Her face was so well constructed, every inch of it was composed: her smile, the corners of her eyes, the stiffness in her neck. Everyone at the table behind her was sloppy and drunk but here was Margaery Tyrell, perfect as always. Her skin was creamy and clear, her eyes bright and her posture pin straight.

But there was a look in her eyes that told Mya she knew what she was doing. Behind the fake doe eyed innocence and grand excitement of it all she was waiting to see Sansa's response, waiting to see how much her friend had learned, if she knew now what the Tyrell's had mastered long ago, if you wanted to deal with Lannisters, you needed to be a flower with a few thorns.

Sansa still hadn't moved.

Mya swooped in between the girls, taking Margaery's hand in her own and shaking it furiously.

"Congratulations, Margaery," She yelled over the music, still shaking her hand. "We're both really, really happy for you!" Margaery's eyes widened as Mya continued to shake her hand wildly. "Really, really happy! Just congratulations! This is so amzing for you I can hardly find the words!" She laughed hysterically and Margaery was looking at her like she was deranged.

"There are no words!" Mya repeated, then she turned around, feeling as the tips of her short hair hit Margaery's face, and looked at Sansa, whose face was still frozen with shock.

"Let's get drunk!" She said happily. She grabbed Sansa's hand and dragged her from the room, where a roar of Lannister laughter followed. Mya turned back, and saw a smile on Margaery Tyrell''s face.


	6. Chapter 6

Once they were outside, Mya sat Sansa down on a bench, in the garden near the guesthouse, where it was still decently quiet. She knelt on the ground in front of her, her head craning awkwardly in an attempt to see into Sansa's eyes. A couple walked into the garden, whispering lovingly and holding hands, but Mya shooed them away.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I-I-I," Sansa stuttered. "I don't know how I feel."

Mya nodded, "Okay," She said, "That's okay." She stood and Sansa's eyes glanced up at her. "Let me tell you how  _I_  feel." She began to pace in front of the bench. "Margaery Tyrell is a bitch. A fucking clever bitch. She knew what she was doing Sansa, she knew back in King's Landing and she knows now. She knows how to manipulate people, why else would she be with Joffrey? And she knows how to manipulate you. But guess what? We're not going to let her. She's here, she's engaged, and she's feeling pretty high and mighty, because back in King's Landing she's just starting her reign. But this is something she didn't consider: She's in the North now, and she's not dealing with Southroners. We're from the North, we live in the fucking freezing cold winter, and we're tough as balls. Why should we give two shits about stupid Southron games? We're happy, and free and you're home. After all your fighting,  _you're home_. So let's celebrate that! Let's forget her existence for another night and just enjoy what might be THE LAST, AND GREATEST STARK PARTY OF THEM ALL." She said, shouting it up at the moon. In the guesthouse they could hear the cries of the direwolves, howling for freedom. And Sansa was giggling.

"So here's the plan: Step 1: we give Margaery the kitchen. We're staying the fuck out of there for the rest of the night. Step 2: Drinks, lots of them. Step 3: Optional, a trip to Bran and Jojen. Step 4: Dancing. Step 5: Boys. There are many steps after this but I'm going to skip to the final step which is waking up tomorrow hungover but very happy. What do you think?"

Sansa smiled. "Do you think she brought him here already knowing they were engaged?"

"Honey," Mya sighed and dropped to her knees again. "We both know the answer to that."

"You know, Margaery was a really great friend." She said.

"Sansa," Mya began but Sansa placed a hand over hers to stop her.

"She was a really great friend to me in King's Landing. She made me feel safe, when I wasn't. She made me feel like I had an ally, even when I didn't. She was a friend when I thought my family was dead and gone. But she's not my friend anymore, at least it doesn't seem she truly wants to be. She made no effort to talk to me over the last year and when I reached out to her, she asked me if she could bring the one person she knew I didn't want to see. My family and I told her no and she still ignored us."

Sansa looked at her friend.

"I'm not saying I blame her. But she's different now, I'm not sure if she's my friend anymore, or if she every really was. At least before she was better at pretending. But if she's done pretending, I can be too."

"If she's not the same Margaery she was in King's, then why should you be the same Sansa?" Mya said.

"Exactly." Sansa smiled. "I like the sounds of your plan."

"Great!" Mya said, pointing to the rest of the backyard. "Let's go!"

She charged past Sansa, a look of determination on her face, but Sansa grabbed her hand to stop her. May spun around and was pulled into her arms.

"Thank you for being my friend." Sansa whispered into her hair.

"Always." Mya whispered back.

* * *

Shireen was sitting out on the balcony, half listening to a man named Sam cooing on and on about his girlfriend's baby. Rickon had been intercepted by some leggy, red-haired wildling and he'd disappeared without much more explanation than to say he'd be back soon. She felt bitterly disappointed as she stared down at the party, she could see couples sneaking off into the woods, and dancing all over the lawn she could see people having fun. But not her.

Rickon had promised to return and that he'd get her something to drink, and immediately Mya's words ran through Shireen's head  _"Don't take anything from anybody. Get all your own drinks. And once you get them don't let them out of your sight."_  


Well, she supposed she didn't actually have to drink the drink.

"Hey." She turned around and found him standing in the doorway. "Sorry I took so long."

"Thanks." She said, smiling down at the unopened soda can he'd placed in her hand.

He smiled and nodded towards the house, "Come on."

"Where are we going?" She asked, looking down and feeling him tug on her arm.

"Somewhere cool." He said. He kept a firm grip on her arm as he led her through the crowd of people and over to the stairs leading up to the Starks' bedrooms. He let go of her arm and turned around, offering her hand.

"I don't know..." She said, holding her hand back cautiously.

He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers tightly around hers. "Trust me." He smiled.

* * *

Gendry walked outside, grateful, as always, for the cool Northern air. He stared down at his hand, a mixture of blood and drywall, and kept going until he reach the property's edge. He picked an open whiskey bottle up of the ground and was pleased to find it half full. After wiping the lip on his shirt, he took a few quick swigs before pouring the remainder over his bloody hand. He cringed and shook the excess liquid away as it burned it's way under his skin.

Then he closed his eyes and breathed deep and when he opened them again he could see his breath, as well as a thicker, white puff of air crossing through it. His eyes followed it to it's origin and there was Arya Stark, leaning against a tree, smoking and smirking at him.

"Hello, stranger." She said, looking down at his hand. "What happened to you?"

"I uh... got into a fight... with a wall. It's a long story." He said. "So... you're back?"

"Yeah, that's also a long story... maybe not as long as yours, but I'm sure it's a close second." She said.

"When did you get back?" He asked. Why wasn't she as amazed by her return as he was?

"About a week ago." She said. He just stared at her, she chuckled. "What?"

"I, Arya, I don't even know where to begin." He said.

"Why don't you start by telling me how you kicked that wall's ass." She said, pointing his hand.

He looked down at his hand again. "Yeah, I- No, no, I've got questions. A shit fucking ton of questions. So let's start there." He said.

"Oh, okay." She said, surprised by his outburst, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. "Please, be my guest."

"Alright," He said, trying to contain his anger. "Let's start with where the fuck did you go for two years?" He wasn't succeeding. "And why? Or why you didn't bother to tell anyone in your family where you went? Or me for that matter? Seven hells, Arry. Maybe you could tell me why you came back but didn't tell anyone?"

"Someone knew." She said.

"Yeah that  _guy_  you came here with. And who in the hells was he, by the way? And why were you dancing like that with him?" The last one escaped his mouth without his notice.

"Jaqen's harmless." She said nonchalantly.

"I've seen him somewhere before, haven't I?" He asked.

"Yes. And bonus points to you if you can figure out where." she taunted.

"Give it a minute." He said, thinking it over. Between the stinging in his hand, and her eyes watching his every twitch, he was having trouble concentrating. And then it his him. "He was at Harrenhall, wasn't he? He was that creep that kept following us around."

"Yes." She said. "I ended up going East with him."

She watched Gendry carefully, waiting to see if he'd pick up on the little clues she was leaving him.

"Then if he was in the East with you, who knew you'd come back home?"

Her smile widened. "Maybe you're not the stupid Bull who left me behind." She whispered.

"Hmm?" Gendry asked, unable to make out what she'd said.

"Rickon knew." She said, a grin growing on her face. "He found me living in the guesthouse.  _He_ recognized me instantly."

For the first time in their conversation, Gendry softened. He might've even blushed a little. "Sorry about that. But you're not exactly little Arry anymore." He said, trying his best to keep his eyes on the ground and not on her.

"No one's called me Arry in a long time," She smiled sadly, "No one's called me  _anything_ in a long time."

"Well," He sighed, "Welcome back, Arry."

She smiled, "I've actually got some questions for you too." Her hand ghosted over his as she walked past him and towards the forest. "What do you say we go for a walk?"

And with that she disappeared into the forest ahead of him, not bothering to see if he would follow along which, of course, he did.

* * *

"I'm not so sure about this." Shireen said. She was holding a freezing cold soda can in her hand and staring at the door to Rickon Stark's bedroom. "I think I'll just go back downstairs." She started backing away when Rickon stepped in front of the door.

"Shit, no, that's not what I meant. It's just... this is the best vantage point." He said.

"Best vantage point for what?" She asked cautiously.

He opened the door and pointed past the slightly messy room, to the open window, "Roof Access." He said.

* * *

"Are you still with the Brotherhood?" Arya asked.

"I'm not  _not_ with them." Gendry explained, as he attempted to keep the tree branches from slapping him in the face.

"What does that even mean?" Arya asked up ahead.

"It means that I've got my shop in Winter's Town but when they come up into the North I try to help them as best I can. They put up with me for long enough, I kinda owe them."

"Alright." She said slowly. "So let me see if I've got this straight: You live in the North."

"Yes." He said.

"You're no longer with the Brotherhood."

Hesitantly, Gendry answered. "Yes."

  
_"And_  you're friends with my brothers."

Gendry sighed. He could see where this was going, "Yes."

"Wow." She said.

"Arry." He began.

"Unbelievable." She said.

"Arry,"

"It's almost as if I was right all those years ago!" She shouted.

"Arya." He said, more firmly.

"What?" She shouted back at him, her eyes wide and angry.

There were a lot of things he could've said. He could've defended himself, he could've shouted right back. After all, he had just as much right to be angry with her and she had with him. He could've turned right then and walked out of the forest, back to the party.

Instead, he said "I'm sorry." Which seemed to surprised her. "I didn't listen to you back then and I should have. I should've trusted you. I should've stuck with you, and that's something I've thought about ever since you left. But I had no way of knowing you'd be right, or what would happen later on. And neither did you, by the way. It was my gamble and I chose not to take it. I didn't know it then, but I chose wrong. So, I'm sorry."

Arya stopped walking and turned to face him. "I accept your apology." She said.

"Thank-you." He said, not wanting to push her further to ask for one in return. He started to chuckle as they cotinued walking side by side. "You know, I have to say, you're more like the old Arry now than I've seen you all night."

"Yeah? How so?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"That was a good old fashioned Arya temper tantrum." He laughed.

Arya scoffed and crossed her arms. "I don't have temper tantrums." She said.

"You don't?" He asked.

"Nope, just moments of ringing clarity while everyone else around me is being stupid." She elbowed him in the ribs and then walked ahead of him. "Speaking of stupidity, do you prefer stupid Bull? Or is it stupid Stag now?" She asked.

"It's still stupid Bull." Gendry said. "You heard about that all the way in the East, huh?" He added anxiously.

"Yeah." She said, biting her lip, though he couldn't see it. "And how was it, finding out who your dad was?"

"I was pissed." He said.

"You were?" She asked, her steps slowed, allowing Gendry moved past her.

"Yeah." He said. "I mean, I was perfectly fine." His voice rose as he spoke "I was doing just fine thinking I was nobody. That was my lot in life and it was alright. And then all of a sudden the whole fucking world knows that I'm Robert Baratheon's bastard. Most of them knew before me, you know? One day some guy, later I found out it was Davos Seaworth, shows up at my door asking if he can talk to me. Next thing I know I'm discussing inheritances and responsibilties and problems with Lannisters. I've got a brother and a sister and a cousin. Have you met her? Her name's Shireen."

"I saw her earlier tonight." Arya nodded "She's cute."

"She's fucking adorable. And Mya is amazing and Edric is fucking hilarious and they're great people and they're my family." He laughed loudly, letting whatever anger he'd had fizzle out. "I get it now, you know, I get why you fought so hard to get here. It wasn't just Winterfell, you wanted to get back to them, even if they weren't here. I'd never had a family. I got shuffled around to a foster home and then practucally sold off to the Crows, then to the Brotherhood. Nothing ever lasted long. I never got it before, but I get it now." He smiled.

"That's good." Arya said, wrapping her arms around herself.

"We stayed in Dragonstone for a while, the three of us, while they sorted out inheritance and business ownership and all that shit I wanted nothing to do with. So we decided to get away for a day. Shireen and Devan joined us, they'd been cooped up on that island for their whole lives, and Shireen wanted to go to the beach. Once they found out I'd never swam before Edric and Mya got this evil look in their eyes and they picked up my arms and Devan grabbed my feet and flung me into the ocean. It's fucking freezing cold. It was terrible." He chuckled to himself. "Most fun day of my life."

"So are you still angry?" She asked, carefully. He thought it over for a minute.

"Nah," He said. "Not at all. I've got a family now. Mya calls me twice a week and Edric stayed with me in the North for a while. Shireen writes letters to me, checking up on me and telling me about her life. She's sweet. Devan and his dad are good men. And Renly and Stannis are true to their word, making sure we're all okay and that Mya and Edric stay safe. It's an actual, fully functioning family. I wouldn't trade that in for nothing."

"Good." She smiled. He looked up at her. "That's good."

"Yeah." He said.

"And did they ever find out who did it?" She asked.

"No. There are theories floating around. People think it was the Tyrells, or Varys, or Petyr Baelish, maybe the Dornish."

"Who do you think it was?" She asked.

"My money's on the Tyrells." He shrugged. "They're living pretty comfortably in King's Landing before the news came out. Now they practically own the Lannisters."

"Hmm." She said. "Interesting."

Gendry looked back over his shoulder at her. "Aren't we supposed to be talking about you?"

She smirked, "Yeah, I have a gift for deflection. I'm trying to shake it."

"Also, where in the seven hells are you leading me?" He asked, looking around at the nearly identical trees surrounding them.

She smiled as she brushed past him, "You'll see."

Gendry watched as she walked past him, further into the darkened forest, his eyes were glued to her hips and the way they swayed but when he looked up her eyes were on his.

"Now why don't you tell me about Jeyne?" She said with a devilish smile.


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm not sure I should be up here." Shireen said, she was clinging to the rooftop with her barefeet and staring down at the party below. She could swear she could feel the house shaking with the beat of the music blaring throughout the whole estate.

"Can I ask you something?" Rickon said.

She nodded and continued to watch him. He was maneuvering his way around the edges of the roof, jumping, leaning and running as comfortably as if he was on the ground. She'd decided to remain a bit more stationary, and next to the window leading to the safety of his bedroom.

"Are you sure of anything?" He asked.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"You're not sure if you should leave the library, not sure if you should come up the stairs with me, not sure if you should be on the roof. What are you sure of?"

"I'm sure that if i fall of this roof, I will die." She laughed nervously.

"Then why did you follow me out here?" He asked.

"I don't know." She said.

"Sure you do." He said. "I mean I said 'Roof Access' that's not exactly deceiving. You knew what you were getting into and some part of you thought 'I'm not sure I should, but that's what makes it fun'."

"No I didn't." She said, tucking her knees up to her chest.

"Course you did. You thought, I don't know this kid, I don't really know this place I'm in, and I sure as hells don't know what I've gotten myself into but I'm here already, so fuck it."

"I can guarantee you I wasn't thinking that." Shireen laughed.

"Maybe not consciously, but it was there. Because you know it's true. Or did you really come all the way from Dragonstone just to lock yourself up in a library all night?"

"No." She said.

"So, you're out. Enjoy it!" He said. "Cuz there's no going back, really. Not anymore."

Shireen sighed. "You make a good point." She said begrudgingly.

"Yes, I do." He smiled arrogantly. Then he waved her over to the far corner of the roof's edge, where he was standing. "Come here."

"What?" She asked.

"Come over here." He repeated. "Come on."

She walked carefully to where he stood. Rickon reach an arm out for her to hold onto and she cringed as she felt the wind on the bottoms of her toes.

"Is this where your brother fell off?" She asked.

"Don't think about that." Rickon answered. "And yes."

Shireen squealed.

"Bran's fine, he just walks with a cane now." He said. "Kinda like a pimp."

Shireen laughed, her eyes were still squeezed shut. Rickon smiled at her, though she couldn't see it.

"Look." He instructed, then he watched as her eyes remained shut. "Are you gonna open your eyes?"

"That depends are you gonna ask me to look down?" She said.

"No, I'm going to ask you to look over there."

Her eyes slowly squeezed open and followed to his finger was pointing. She saw the Stark's guesthouse lying out on the lawn, near the edge of the forest, beyond the garden, out of the way of the noise and chaos of the party. The small house was all lit up and through the windows you could see shadows thrown lazily around the room.

"Who's in there?" Shireen asked. Rickon smiled down at her and rasied his eyebrows.

"Watch this." He said, lifting his hands up around his mouth. Then he started howling. It was quiet compared the cacophony below, but it had an affect. The shadows started moving, standing and walking around the house. Rickon lifted his hands up to do it again but Shireen placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Wait," She said, pausing for a moment to listen. "I know this song. Just hold on." She held her breath. "Just wait for it... five, four, three, two, one."

The music died down and Rickon howled as loud as he could. The direwolves lifted their heads and howled and grabbing the attention of everyone below. The music kept going, picking up in both speed and volume, but the wolves' howling drowned it out.

Then more was heard.

Shireen and Rickon looked down and saw the partiers lifting their heads up to the sky and howling like wolves themselves. More and more of the joined in and from up on the roof they could see Robb and Jon and Sansa hoisted up over the crowd and passed around the backyard as people continue to howl and chant 'House Stark' into the night.

Rickon laughed as he watched and Shireen stood next to him, clapping and smiling and finally lifting up her own hands and howling as well, joining in with the sounds of the North.

He watched in awe as the girl who would barely move a minute ago suddenly didn't have a care in the world.

* * *

From where Mya sat she could see Sansa dancing with Loras Tyrell and her uncle Renly. She was sitting just off to the side, talking with Asha Greyjoy and laughing as they watched Theon repeatedly attempting and failing a keg stand.

Asha threw her empty beer can onto the lawn and pushed past her friend Qarl,

"Let me show you how it's done baby brother." She said while Mya laughed at him.

Theon stormed off as Asha flipped herself into position.

Then the howling started. Mya could't even be sure where it was coming from, she just heard it and just as soon she felt it surrounding her. And then Sansa was lifted up in the air by Loras and Renly, and Jon was floating around somewhere with Robb not too far off.

Her friend smiled down at her and Mya blew her a kiss and joined in as the crowd started chanting "House Stark".

It seemed to last forever, and once it ended the party had a new energy, the music was louder, the people were more alive, and the night was on fire once again.

But there was something in the corner of her eye that she couldn't leave alone.

When she looked over at the pool, Joffrey was walking through the screen door. He was shouting but his words were inaudible over the music, and the crowd that was still chanting.

Sansa was safely on the ground again, hugging her brother and Jon and laughing with them, unaware that the Lannisters had moved out of the kitchen. But Loras saw, and so did Renly, and immediately his eyes turned to Mya.

Renly shook his head and mouthed a silent "No." to her. And he was right. But still against her better judgement, she pressed on.

"What the fuck is all this howling and screaming?" Joffrey shouted to Lancel as Margaery appeared behind him.

"That's the sound of the North." Mya said, crossing her arms. She could feel Renly behind her and soon noticed Loras step over to Joffrey's side, ready to defuse his pathetic temper. He immediately began whispering in the Lannister boy's ear as Margaery stepped past them, intent on getting to Mya.

Renly stepped out from behind Mya first, "Margary, I think you guys should-"

"Renly, Mya and I are perfectly capable of maintaining a simple conversation, thanks." She said. "You'd do better to make sure my brother and my boyfriend don't tear each other to bits. You know, how Loras gets." Renly lifted up his hands and walked away. "Thank you." Margaery sang.

"Thought he was your fiancée?" Mya asked.

Margaery shrugged, "Of course he is. But I don't want to talk about him, I want to talk about us."

"What  _us_? There is no us." Mya said.

"Darling of course there is.  _We_  are the lovely, lovely friends of Sansa Stark."

"Not you. You shouldn't even be here. You're not her friend anymore." Mya said.

"Sure I am, not as good as you though.  _Everyone_ knows what a good friend you are, Mya Baratheon." Margaery said. "How you'd do anything for her, _anything_."

"Shut up." Mya said through gritted teeth.

"Why? Isn't it true Mya? You love her more than anyone else, am I right?"

"Certainly more than you." Mya spat back. "You were never her friend. You made her feel safe, like she could trust you and you abandoned her."

Margaery actually seemed to look hurt by her words. But being Margaery she hid that emotion away behind a veil of calm, though this time she didn't quite succeed.

"I tried. I tried my best." She said. "Just because you don't believe me doesn't make it untrue."

"I don't believe you because I  _know_ it's untrue." Mya said. "No person who actually cared about Sansa, or cared about anyone for that matter, could've seen what was happening to her in King's Landing and not done  _everything_  they could. You had every opportunity."

"I had obligations," Margaery argued.

"Bullshit."

"To my family."

"More bullshit."

"And to our advancement,"

"Do you hear yourself right now?"

"What do you want from me, Mya Baratheon?" Margaery said angrily.

"Ideally, I'd like you to fuck right off." She said. "But since you're here already, you could apologize to Sansa before you say goodbye, for the last time."

"Maybe I could make it up to her instead?" She proposed.

"I don't see how you could ever come close." Mya said.

Margaery took a moment to compose herself. Then with all the confidence she usually had, and maybe more, she stepped closer to Mya.

"You think you're so much better than me because you lived a hard life before became who you are, before you were legtitimized. Maybe now that you know what you are, you'll realize just how hard our lives can be." She said. "Then again, you're the daughter of Robert Baratheon, so it's not exactly a high step up."

"Don't make me punch you in the face while Sansa's watching. She's still under the naive impression you might be a halfway decent person." Mya said, thinking of Sansa dancing happily behind her.

Margaery look over Mya's shoulder and scoffed. "Is she invisible?" She asked.

"What?" Mya whipped around and found that her friend was not where she'd thought her to be. She wasn't anywhere.

She looked over Margaery's shoulder and found Loras and Renly standing alone, staring off to the open door of the house.

"Shit." She said. "You wanna make it up to her? Help me find her. Now."

* * *

"Who in the seven hells told you about Jeyne?" Gendry asked. "Was it Rickon?"

"I can't give away all my secrets." Arya teased.

"I thought we were going to start talking about you." He said gruffly breaking away a branch that almost smacked him in the eye. He kept his eyes on the ground in attempt to not trip over the roots and twigs that lined the forest floor, also so he couldn't look up and see Arya's smug face. He really didn't want to talk about Jeyne.

"Touchy subject?" She asked.

"No." He lied. "I'm just trying to stop you from being evasive."

Arya smiled. "Fine. From here on out I'll match you question for question. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Great." She said. "So... Jeyne?"

"We started going out last year, just for a couple of months. No big deal." He said. She was about to ask a follow up, he could see it on the tip of her tongue. So he blurted out his question. "Why did you leave?"

She looked surprised. He understood that; he was surprised too. He thought he might've started with something simpler like 'Why the fuck did you let that guy touch you like that when I can't?'. But that's what came out instead.

"You left." She said. Then she turned away and kept walking. So Gendry caught up to her, grabbed her arm and turned her back around.

"No, it's not that simple. You owe me more explanation than that." He said.

His words were met with a flurry of fists.

"You." Hit "Left." Hit. "Me." Hit. "First." She couldn't stop hitting him and every second he felt new blows to his chest, stomach, shoulders, neck. Anywhere she could reach was a target. "You were my pack." She said. And he slowly noticed how her hits were losing steam. He let her keep going for a few seconds, let her get out whatever bit of rage she could afford. Then he reached out and grabbed her wrists. She fought against him for a few seconds before looking up into his eyes. She wasn't crying. Arya Stark didn't cry. But there was a look in there, for a moment, of something more. When they were younger he'd watched her lose everything, this girl right in front of him. But she was gone a moment later. And then her eyes were cold and grey once more. "Everybody kept leaving. Everybody always leaves." She said. "And then you did too."

"Everybody came back." He said as she wrenched her wrists free. "And then we waited for you."

"Good." She said over her shoulder. "You should have had to feel what I felt."

"Is that why you waited so long send that letter? You wanted us to know what it felt like to imagine you were dead?" He asked.

She stared back at him, her eyes looked so empty.

"It's my turn to ask a question, Gendry."

* * *

"I don't get it," Shireen said. She and Rickon were sitting next to each other, the arms brushing ever so slighty, as they watched the party below them. "Wouldn't you rather be down there with them?"

"Them?" Rickon asked.

"You know, the Wildlings?"

"Ah," Rickon laughed. "My people."

"Yeah, I guess." Shireen whispered.

"The thing is, they're not really my people anymore." He said. "The Starks, my family,  _they're_ my people. And between Jon leading the Crows on a rampage, and Sansa being the queen of all things prim and proper, it got harder to live in both worlds." He turned and looked at her. "You know what that's like, don't you?"

Shireen nodded, "I think I do." She said quietly.

Rickon smiled and looked back down over the party. A moment later he felt a chill as Shireen placed her cold hand over his for a moment. Just as quickly, she pulled away and began asking him new questions, which he happily answered.

* * *

Sansa had retreated to her room. She was sweating from all the dancing and her shirt was soaked from the drinks that had been splashing around all night, especially after someone had flipped the beer pong table mid game, sending drinks flying into the crowd and starting an all out beer war.

She combed her fingers through her mess of hair and opted to rinse it out in the sink, flipping her head over and placing her auburn curls inside the basin. She flipped it back, letting the cool water stream down her meticulously planned outfit and with a sigh, she peeled the wet shirt from her shoulder and threw it into her hamper.

For a minute she stood there, blow drying her hair so it wouldn't be sopping wet when she went back downstairs. She couldn't hear the door to her bedroom opening, or the footsteps of someone creeping through her room. She couldn't hear as they got closer to the bathroom door.

Her eyes were closed as she hummed along to the music from downstairs, over the noise of the hairdryer. But when she opened them she screamed.

 


	8. Chapter 8

"Do you want one?" Rickon said, offering her a cigarette.

They were lying on the roof staring up at the stars.

"No thanks." Shireen said and he nodded before lighting his up. She watched as he took one intake, grimaced and put it out in the gutter.

"What was the point of that?" She asked.

"Never tried them before." He said. "So I stole Arya's."

" _You've_ never tried a cigarette before?" She asked.

"What? And you have?" Rickon asked, his pride slightly wounded.

"Just once," Shireen admitted, like she was spilling a secret. "My father found them in Edric's room and while he was yelling at him I took one and hid it away. I hated them too."

"Well, well," He said, sliding one arm comfortably behind his head. "Shireen Baratheon: secret badass."

She giggled.

"Why did you say it like that?" He asked a moment later.

"Say what?"

" _YOU'VE_ never tried one before?" He said, with great exaggeration.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I figured a Wildling wouldn't think anything about trying cigarettes."

"Well, I'm not really a Wilding, so there's that." He said.

"You're not?" She asked, doubtfully.

"I'm partial, like an honourary member of the gang."

"But weren't you raised by one?" She asked.

"My nanny, Osha, she was a Wildling. After my parents died, and my siblings were scattered all over, she kind of took over."

"Must've made things difficult, once you came back here." Shireen said, picking anxiously at a roof tile.

"Yeah. A bit. Sansa had to be talked out of sending me off to charm school. She was pretty mortified by my behaviour, so I toned it down for her sake." He said.

"And it couldn't have been easy, with Jon's position in the Crows." She siad.

"There's that too, yes. He goes easy on me... too easy, sometimes." He sat up suddenly and laughed. "Osha's actually down there somewhere."

Shireen looked up at him and he turned to face her.

"There's not bad people you know, not all of them. They're not what people think of them." He said.

"I believe that." She said.

"I'm sure you can." He nodded.

"Why's that?" She asked.

"You're nothing like what I thought of you either." He said.

Then she sat up too.

"What did you think I would be like?" She said.

* * *

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sansa said, reaching for a towel to cover herself. "No one's allowed up here." She reached around and turned off her hairdryer and then stared at a red cheeked Edric Baratheon as he half covered his eyes with his hands.

"I know." He said. "I know. Sorry. It's just, I'm supposed to be checking in on Shireen, and I can't find her. Mya told her to go to the library if things got too hot for her but she's not in there so I thought she might've come up here. Sorry."

Sansa sighed and moved out the door, sending Edric stumbling backwards. She went to her closet and pulled out a loose grey tank top. "Have you checked the other rooms?" She called out.

"No. Yours was first on my list once I heard the noise."

"Well, try Arya's room first, then the others. I'll try the basement guest rooms and the laundry room." She stepped outside and helped a half drunken Edric off the floor. "Wait, did you say Mya told her to go the library?"

"Yeah," Edric said, slowly. Then all at once, "We know that room is off limits but Shireen loved to read plus we figured it was the one place she could be alone and safe if things got to be too much."

"It's fine." Sansa said, nibbling at her lip. "I know where she is."

* * *

"Get the fuck down!"

Rickon and Shireen's heads whipped around the open window that led to Rickon's room. Sansa stood, her hair wet and her arms crossed, and Edric was holding out his hand.

Shireen sighed and moved over to accept it, with Rickon following close behind.

"What were you thinking?" Edric yelled, "If Mya or Devan had found you out there, they would've killed you, and then they would've killed me! You could've fallen off and cracked you head open! Do you know what Uncle Stannis would do to me then?"

"If I'd fallen off the roof I'd have landed in ten feet of water." Shireen rationalized.

"Oh." Edric said, calmly. Then a new wave of outrage hit him. "You could've drowned!"

"She's not an infant Edric." Rickon said. "She's not breakable. It's not like she's gonna be torn in half if someting happens to her."

Shireen smiled at him. So that's what he thought of her.

"No, but I will!" Edric said before turning back to Shireen. " _I_ will be torn in half if something happens to you. Gendry will hold my feet, Devan will take my arms and Mya will saw me down the fucking middle."

"So what should I do? Go hole up in the library all night?" Shireen shouted back.

"Yeah, if you value my sanity!" He shouted hysterically.

Shireen glared at him for a long time as he waited impatiently for her to make a decision.

"I'm not going back to the library." She said.

Edric stared back for a good long moment before throwing his hands up in exasperation and shouting at her some more.

Shireen sighed and looked over at Rickon, who was also being scolded, though a bit more gently.

"I'm happy to see that you're making a new friend," Sansa said, glancing uncertainly between Rickon and Shireen, "But did it have to be the most impressionable, innocent girl at this party?"

"I'm not doing anything wrong. And she's not that impressionable." He argued.

Sansa sighed, "Shireen has a very protective family, and you aren't exactly the ideal... friend for her right now."

"And since I'm so awful maybe we should let her go find someone else to spend the rest of the party with? Ramsay Snow didn't look too occupied." He taunted.

"Don't joke." Sansa said, pointing her finger at him.

Rickon rolled his eyes, "Believe it or not, my mission for the night is not to corrupt Shireen Baratheon."

"What is your mission then, hmm?" She asked, her eyes narrowed as her arms crossed and Rickon had had just about enough.

"You don't have to speak with such fucking disdain, Sansa. No one here was looking out for her, Mya's busy with you, Edric's was with some Dornish chick, I'm betting no one's seen Gendry in hours, poor fucker, so I wanted to spend the night hanging out with her. No agenda, nothing."

"Good." She said.

Edric and Shireen were still talking, Rickon watched them as he continued to speak quietly to his sister. "You know, everyone worries about her all the time, but no one's taking a moment to care once she's all safe and locked up. She's bored, she wants to do more. Am I really the worst person for her to spend time with?"

Sansa looked away, "You're not the best." Rickon scoffed, "I'm sorry!" Sansa said. "I just wish, that when I was Shireen's age and stuck in King's Landing, somebody had been there to watch over me, to tuck me in safely, to check on me, to worry. While she was up here with you Edric was looking everywhere for her. He was so worried, and with good reason! This isn't exactly the safest night for a girl to be alone in Winterfell." Sansa said, covering her arms around herself.

"I understand that tonight's not the greatest night to let Shireen out of her fucking cage, but no one's gonna get near her with me around." He said. "And you know something else? You need to stop being so paranoid, Sansa. This isn't King's Landing. There's no Lannisters, no Southroners. You're safe. They're no threat to us tonight."

"Wouldn't that be swell?" She said, hugging her arms tighter around herself.

"What?" Rickon asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." She looked over at Shireen, "Be nice to her."

"Course I will."

"Good."

* * *

"So what happened with you and Jeyne?" Arya asked.

"Why do you keep circling back to this?" Gendry asked. He was tired, he was so deep into the woods that he couldn't even see the lights from the house or hear the music. Everything was calm and quiet. He hated it.

"It's my turn for a question." She said.

"Fine. Nothing happened. It just fizzled out and ended. At last year's party, in fact. We lasted a good two weeks and then, nothing. That was a waste of a perfectly good question, by the way."

"Well did you two fight a lot?" Arya asked.

"We went out for two weeks, what could we possibly have to fight about?" Gendry asked, lying through his teeth. The words ' _Arya Fucking Horseface'_ were blaring through his mind.

"Well there must've been something?" She said.

"No there wasn't." Gendry groaned. "Why are you pushing this so much?"

"I'm not pushing anything." She shrugged.

"Yeah, you are. And it's kinda starting to piss me off." Gendry said. "What? Are you jealous?" He said jokingly.

She threw her hands too high in the air and scoffed too loudly and when she turned to look at him he smirking, as if he'd hit his mark.

Arya composed herself and walked up to him, her neck craning up to look him in the eye.

"What would I possibly have to be jealous of?" She asked coldly.

Gendry laughed bitterly, "Nothing I can think of." He watched her walk away, before added, "M'lady."

He squeeze his eyes closed, expecting her tiny fists to come flying at him like they would've in the old days. But when his eyes reopened, she was just standing in front of him again, staring up at him with an eerie sense of calm sweeping over her.

"Maybe I just wanted to hear you say it." She said.

"What?" Gendry said.

"Maybe I just wanted to hear you actually tell the truth and admit to what really happened."

The woods were too quiet. Through all that silence Gendry could hear Jon's words ringing out from last year.

_"Is that why you were with Jeyne? Some twisted way of pretending you were fucking my sister?"_

"How much do you know?" Gendry asked.

Arya stared up at him, contemplating her answer. She knew a lot. And Gendry stared down at her, fearing the next words to come out of her mouth. After years or imagining and reimagining this moment, the one where he and Arya finally found there way back to each other, he knew that there was a good chance violence would be involved and that he would be on the receiving end of it. He'd expected her fists to hit him at every chance, and more bruises than he could count. But this was different. Her eyes weren't filled with anger, they fought in a new way now. No more thin-fisted punches and wrestling in the dirt. This girl calculated, and whispered and found your weaknesses. She exploited your secrets. She fought dirty. And it made him realize that she was nothing like the girl he remembered. He didn't like whoever his was.

But then her eyes softened, slowly, as if realizing how alien she had become, and she was Arya again.

"I know that Ramsay Snow stole your girl from you." She said with a breathy laugh. "Admit it."

Gendry followed her lead and laughed, "Yeah, that's what happened."

He got it now. There was the Arya Stark he knew who was now a shade, a veil for this new girl to hide behind. The cold, calculating, grown up Arya who knew something, thought he wasn't sure what yet.

"Well, it's a step down." She said.

"It is?" He asked, surprised.

"Of course," She said "Have you met Ramsay Snow? He's the devil. Actually, his father's the devil, Ramsay's just his spawn." She added quietly.

"I," Gendry hesitated "I didn't know you'd heard about all that."

"Of course I heard!" She snapped at him, then she softened again. "I heard about you and Jeyne, of course I heard about my own mother."

"Right." Gendry said, watching as she sank back in the Old Arya again, or at least the best version of her she could manage. He was almost afraid to speak, but still he went on. "I saw her you know, towards the end." He tried to decipher her reaction from the back of her head. He was failling.

"I don't want to talk about that." She said.

He nodded, "Fine. My turn to asked a question then, right?"

She waved him on, and so he continued.

"Tell me about Jaqen."

* * *

Sansa was rushing around the house, cleaning franctically and pointlessly as the party continued around her. She kept shooting nervous glances towards the kitchen, both afraid of it and unable to stop herself from inching closer.

She shook her head and retreated back down to the basement. She noticed Bran pacing around outside one of the guest rooms and biting his thumb nail. Sansa watched him for a moment as he paused outside the door, his hand resting just above the handle, then he hesitated, sighed, and continued his pacing.

"What's going on?" Sansa asked.

"Nothing." Bran said, pulling his thumbnail from his mouth for a moment to wave her away.

"Bran." Sansa said, reaching out to him. He swatted her away. "Bran." She repeated lunging towards him and grabbing his wrists.

His eyes were so bloodshot and rimmed with red. And it might've been from all the weed he'd smoked throughout the night but somehow she knew it was more than that. He sniffled, pulled away from her and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Why were you crying?" Sansa whispered.

She looked past him towards the guestroom door, which was crack open only an inch.

"Who's in there?" She asked.

"No one." He groaned.

"Brandon." She scolded. He hated when she did that. Only their mum used to call him Brandon.

She pushed past him and opened the door to the room ever so slightly. Meera's head whipped around as the first sign of movement. Her breath hitched as she saw Sansa and she moved to wipe away her tears too. Sansa pulled the door closed and looked at her brother.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I, I don't even know, I was just... we'd been smoking all night, and then Jojen went running from the room. He went running outside a while back, I think someone said he went off into the woods."

"Is he okay?" She asked.

"He's probably fine. He's Jojen." Bran shrugged. "But then Meera and I were alone. And I was thinking about what Rickon was saying earlier and how Meera looked so pretty and I was high out of my fucking mind so,"

"So?" Sansa asked, prodding him onwards.

"So I kissed her." He said.

Sansa groaned, "Oh Bran."

"She didn't seem to mind at first!" Bran said in his defense. "And it wasn't like I was planning anything like this! It's just, she looked pretty, and Jojen was gone for once and I swear she was flirting back and she kissed me back too!"

"Obviously not if you sent her running away!" Sansa said.

"She just gets paranoid sometimes when she's smoked too much." Bran said, running hand over the back of his hair. "I mean do you think she's really upset?"

"She's crying in there." Sansa said, nodding to the door.

"Really?" He asked. When she nodded he reached for the door.

"No." Slapped his hand away. "Whether it's just the high or not, she's upset right now so you need to leave her alone."

"Can you go talk to her?" He asked desperately.

"No!" She said.

"Why not?" He said.

"Why me?" She asked.

"Because you're here!" He shouted.

"That's not a good enough reason." Sansa rationalized. "Just give her time."

"Please, Sansa?" He said, grabbing her arm as she tried to walk away. "She's my best friend. I just need to know that she's okay."

Sansa sighed, "It's a good thing I love you." She said. She moved towards the door and took a deep breath before entering and shutting it behind her.

The room, unlike everywhere else in the house, was dark. The air was clear and the open window was sending moonlight in through the blinds. Meera Reed sat alone, holding a tissue to her nose, on the corner of the bed. Sansa inched towards her slowly, holding out her hand to tap the girl's shoulder, since she hadn't seemed to notice her so far.

"Meera?" She said. "Meera, are you okay?"

"No." She said wiping her tears. "I mean yes. I'm fine now. Sorry about before."

"That's fine. Don't worry about that." She said. "I'm sorry my brother was an idiot."

"He's not an idiot."

"Sure he is." She shrugged. "He just thought you were flirting back at him. That's why he kissed you. He feels terrible. He's really sorry. He won't ever do it again." She laughed. "I think you scared him off."

"No." She said. "I didn't mean to... I didn't want that."

Sansa watched Meera carefully, "What?"

"For a long time now, I've noticed the way Bran looks at me. He's so sweet, you know. He's thoughtful and considerate. So considerate that he wouldn't dream of doing anything because of how Jojen might react."

"So you knew he liked you?" She asked.

"I put the pieces together, but I didn't really have proof."

"Okay... and how do you feel about him?" She asked.

Meera giggled and shook her brown curls. "This is ridiculous, I just get sort of paranoid when I smoke too much, sometimes."

"Yeah he mentioned that." Sansa said. It made Meera smile.

"Meera," Sansa said carefully trying to hide the smile creeping onto her lips. "Do you like my brother?"

"No." She shook her head. Then she sighed, and shook her hair away from her face. When she looked up at Sansa the moonlight was hitting her face and her eyes looked clearer than they'd ever been. "It's the strangest thing. I've always admired him, so much. The day my brother and I started taking care of him. He was so strong and so brave. So determined too. I thought 'This boy is amazing, he's lost everything and he keeps going.' He gave me hope. I knew I liked him immediately. And Jojen was crazy about him as well. Lately, I keep thinking about how much I like him, and how much he's grown. I just thought I was still admiring him; who he is and who he's become. Then he kissed me and I felt everything all at once... I got afraid. I didn't realize..."

"You do like him." Sansa smiled.

Meera rolled her eyes, "It's like school all over again." She muttered. "But he's Jojen's best friend. He's the same age as my little brother! And he's my friend too. There's too much to lose."

"Not really." Sansa said.

"What?" Meera asked.

"Look I'm no genius in the way of relationships. But from my experience, all your problems seem fairly minor in comparison to what they could be."

"But-"

Sansa held her hand up, a sudden surge of confident wisdom overcoming her. "Age doesn't matter. Nothing matters except the fact that you are quite clearly falling for my little brother." She smiled as Meera blushed. "I tried to do everything right. I met a boy my own age, who would make my friends jealous, and my parents proud. Someone with money, and power and a good future. I did everything I could to make myself fit to him, so we could be perfect. And everything fell apart. The little things like how it looks and what everyone else thinks don't matter. Bran is kind of crazy about you. That's all you need to know. And if you're worried about Jojen you're forgetting one very obvious thing: You're brother is so freaking omniscient he probably knew about you and Bran before you two did."

Meera laughed and nodded wiping away the few remainders of her tears.

"I really do like him Sansa." She whispered.

"Good." She nodded. "He deserves someone like that. Now go find him." She shooed her away and Meera hugged her quickly before running from the room.

Sansa lay back on the bed and smiled at herself. Rickon was off with Shireen Baratheon, Bran was finally getting somewhere with Meera, Robb had Talisa, Jon was grinning like too much of an idiot to be spending the night alone. Everyone had someone and everyone was happy. For now, that was enough to make her happy too.

She heard the door creak open and sat up straight, "I thought I told you to go-"

"Good to finally see you again, Sansa." Joffrey stood there, leering at her as she sat on the bed. She moved to stand but his waved his hand. "No please, don't move. You'll do just fine there."

* * *

**BEWARE: Ridiculously long Author's Note Ahead. (But you should read it because it's my sad attempt at being friendly and humourous and hey it might be good for a quick chuckle).**

AN: Just when you thought she was safe. Sigh, poor Sansa.

I don't usually do Author's Notes because I end up hating and deleting them but I wanted to reply to some of the comments.

To the Guest back in Chapter 3 who asked whether everyone knew that Arya was back or just Rickon: it's probably gotten obvious by this point but Rickon's the only one who knows about Arya's return... and now Gendry... and Robb and Jon... and Shireen (kind of). But Rickon was the first to know!

To Shannon on AO3: Thank you for all the reviews, they made my day! I don't want to give to much away but I can promise you one thing and that is that Renly is not a bad guy and he and his wonderful boyfriend have been seriously misled. And they will come through for our lovely Starks in the end.

To Mary on AO3: Sadly, Sandor only gets one verbal mention in this story. Next time!

To Brazilian guy: Let's be honest, Gendry will probably always lose it and make it worse than it needs to be.

To... pretty much everyone: I'm so thrilled with how much everyone is enjoying Rickon x Shireen. They ended up kind of dominating what started out as a purely Arya x Gendry fic but I love how those two contrast each other! Plus any chance for adorableness, right?

I just want to finish up by saying that the whole work is finished and waiting to be published with about seven chapters left. Of course your reviews keep spurring me to edit and perfect was can be perfected and change what can be changed. I'll keep posting new content every Sunday until I run out and then I'll cry a lot because I've been working on this story for literally nine months and once it's done there will be a big story shaped hole in my life that I will probably fill with more fanfiction.

Please keep the reviews coming! They make my day, my week, my life, and the lives of all my future offspring (which will probably just be my cats, let's be honest).

Until next week! Stay warm, Winter Is Coming.

(No but seriously I live in Canada so it's about that time).

 


	9. Chapter 9

Moving the conversation to the man with the red and white hair and really opened the floodgates. Gendry almost hit himself for not bringing it up sooner.

He already knew more than he'd ever wanted to know about Arya and her new friend. He knew that after Arya had left him and Brotherhood she'd gone off to the East to a school. Jaqen had recruited her. He was in charge of her education and oversaw the completion of her program for the two years she was there. He knew that Jaqen had kept tabs on her after Harrenhal, and that he told Arya to contact him if she should ever want to, which eventually she did, and then he had secured her trip out of Westeros. Once she was gone, he'd been with her everyday: watching her, training her, making her someone new, someone different.

"Plus we might've dated a little." She added ever so casually.

Gendry stopped in his tracks. "What?!" She laughed as he sputtered and shouted behind her.

"Just during my final project." She said.

"You dated your professor?" He yelled. "I mean I'm not really sure why that surprises me. I figured you were dancing with him like that to get my attention but I guess the alternative makes just as much sense."

"You really think it was all about you?" She asked.

"Well you weren't looking into your brother's eyes while you dragged his hands all over you!" Just the thought of it made him cringe. "Really? You dated your professor?"

"Well, I wouldn't really call what Jaqen and I did  _dating_." She added, just to watch him squirm. "Oh stop judging! It was during my project abroad. I had to complete it in order to finish and Jaqen had to observe me."

"How old is he?" Gendry asked.

"A man never reveals his age." She said, laughing as if at a private joke.

"Are you trying to torture me?" Gendry muttered.

"Relax," She said. "It's all about to get a lot better. We're here."

She pulled across a veil of branches and revealed a pool of water with steam rising off of it. He followed her inside and immediately felt the warmth crawling through his clothes and clinging to his skin.

"It's empty." He said.

"Course it is. No one can find this place. Unless they're a Stark." She said, walking over to tree with red leaves. "My dad loved this tree." She said, running her hand over the smooth white bark.

"And this hot spring. My brothers and I used to come down here all the time." She said, walking back and forth along the bank. "Sansa always preferred our pool, but I liked it here. This is where Robb and Jon taught me how to swim, and where I watched Bran and Rickon try to learn too. Robb and Jon stopped coming, same with Bran, and then it was just me and Rickon, then Dad took Sansa and me to King's Landing, I haven't really been back since." Gendry stayed quiet while she talked, her eyes trained on the spring as if in a trance. "I feel like going for a swim." She said, still staring down at the water. Then her hands moved up to her shirt and began to tug it over her head.

"Are you kidding me?" Gendry said, simultaneously covering his eyes and trying to look through his hand.

"Nope. I have waited six years to get back in this pool. Two in King's Landing  _begging_ my father to let me go home, two on the road with you and two more pretending the last four had never happened. I'm back. I'm here. I'm swimming." She unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down her legs. "Care to join me?" She asked, still staring at the water. She stood before him in her black underwear and pulling her many necklaces over her head.

"You're really not little Arry anymore, are you?" He asked as he looked at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Come on." She jumped into the pool, sending streams of water steam flying through the air.

"As m'lady commands." He mumbled, pulling his own shirt over his head and jumping in after her.

* * *

The water was amazing, warm and clear and illuminated by the moonlight that crept in through the tree canopy.

Arya stayed under for what felt like ages while Gendry waded and watched her flip around and run her fingers through her featherlike hair. Gendry swam underneath and ran his hands along the bottom of the spring until his lungs felt tight and heavy. Then he let himself float up to the top.

"So," Arya said once they'd both caught their breath. They swam in circles around each other, slowing getting closer and closer as the water steamed even more around their bodies. "Tell me about you and Jon traveling." She said with a smile. "Gods, that must've been a mess."

"Who told you about that?" Gendry asked, the answer hit him a moment later.

"Rickon." They said in unison.

He could've taken the moment to berate Rickon, and Arya, for how much they'd hidden from everybody, and from him. But instead, he just answered her question. His stomach warmed at the sight of he sweet smile on her face as he spoke.

"It was hell. We spent about a year moving North, to South and back again. We stopped at every bar and seedy hotel along the way. We spent so long together, I'm still surprised I never kicked his ass. Or he mine. Still we were fucking determined, especially him. We went everywhere. I don't think he got a moment of sleep the whole time we were gone. You should've seen Jon's face; I swear every time a wolf howled he'd sit up straight as a pin and drag me out of my bed. He was sure you'd be out there. Gods, there was this one time-"

"For me?" She asked.

Gendry stared at her and her wide eyes. She didn't get it, after all these years what had been obvious for him and never even crossed her mind.

"Of course for you." He said. "Why else do you think we would... Arya, you left. You just disappeared. Of course we went looking for you, what else did you think we would do?"

She shook her head and glared at him.

"Everyone left me long before I took off. I figured we'd all just forget about each other."

Gendry let out a bitter laugh as he kept himself afloat.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. No one can just forget, not after everything we went through." He said. "I couldn't."

"I could." She said. The lie tasted awful on her tongue and as she tried to push it back down she felt it fight it's way up. "At least I tried to, for a long time. And I got close too but,"

Gendry inched foward in the water, creating ripples that pulsed outward and rebounded against the water's edge, the motion sending them in a slow, helpless dance, bobbing further apart.

"But what?" He asked.

"I was so close, then I failed." She said in a hollow tone.

"You couldn't do it?" He asked. "You couldn't forget?" She shook her head. "What brought you back?"

Arya moved her eyes up to his. She couldn't tell him, not yet. "Everything," She said. A half truth. "But mostly," She sighed, "Mostly my dad."

All at once, she felt like she couldn't breathe. Gendry watched as she kicked her feet furiously and swam for the pool's edge.

"I need to get out of here." She said, "It's too hot." She pulled herself out of the water and collapsed on the bank, resting her wet hair on his discarded shirt. Gendry waded at the end of the pool, his arms rested on the bank.

She stared up at the stars with wide eyes. "Gods, I haven't even seen any of them yet. They still don't know I'm home." Her head tilted and she looked at Gendry, "How are they all?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself, Arry?" He asked.

She ignored him, "How's Bran? And Sansa, is she okay? And Robb, is he still with his girlfriend? And Jon," There were tears in her eyes, "How's Jon?"

"They're fine." He said.

"How was Sansa after she left King's? And after the Lannisters were forced out of the Baratheon company? And Bran with his leg and his cane? And Jon with the Crows and the Wildlings. And Rob with the fucking lousy Boltons. Are they all okay?" She asked desperately.  _I tried to make it better. I tried to make it just._ She thought helplessly.  _I tried to finish what he started._

Gendry sighed and ran his hands over his half-dried hair. "I don't know, Arya. Why don't you go ask them all yourselves? They're a thirty minutes walk from here and I'm sure they'd love to see you." He could feel his anger returning. "Especially since, you know, they haven't fucking seen you in years and all they know about you is that you're not quite as dead as they once thought!" He shouted at her.

There eyes were locked. Gendry's chest rose up and down with exhilaration while Arya sat there perfectly still, for several minutes.

"I can't go inside." She said in a small, childlike voice. "I haven't been able to... I can't."

Gendry's lips parted and he was about to speak when suddenly she jumped up and pulled her shirt over her head.

"I need to go for a walk." She said, sliding back into her shorts and leaving her shirt on backwards.

"No." Gendry said, hoisting himself out of the water. "No, you're not getting away again!"

She was trying to take off, again. Not for the second time or the third. He was sure even she couldn't keep count of how many times she'd run. But he wouldn't let her do it again. As she reached the forest's edge he lunged for her, grabbing her by the wrist and tugging her closer. She spun around and pushed at his chest but Gendry's grip was strong. He felt her trying to pull away once more and gave her arm another pull. She pushed against him, her wet feet fighting for friction on the forest floor. But he stood firm in his stance and gripped both her wrists in his hands.

He leaned back, anchoring her in place until, surprisingly, she gave up and let go. And all his strength was set loose and together they went flying back into the hot spring.

* * *

Sansa stood motionless at one side of the bed while Joffrey paced at the other.

"See, the thing is, I don't remember telling you that you could LEAVE KING'S LANDING." He shouted. The moonlight reflected in the spit that flew from his lips.

"I don't remember telling you that you could enter my house."

She wanted to say it but she didn't. If Mya was here she could've. But Mya wasn't here. It was just her and Joffrey alone in this room together. And the music was so loud no one could hear him screaming... or her.

He stared at her with that look on her face, like he was disgusted with her. It was the only expression she saw of his during her last few months in King's Landing.

"WELL?" He shouted impatiently.

"I-i-i" She stuttered. "I thought you were done with me." She said pathetically.

"See, that was the problem with you Sansa. You thought." He said, storming towards her. "Don't do that anymore."

_You don't want me to think. Fine, I won't._

Sansa saw him lifting his hands towards her and lifted up her own to block him. She managed to push him away, and for a second she could enjoy the bewildered look in his eyes. Then it was replaced by malice. He lifted his hands up again hands again and roughly grabbed her arms, sending her flying backwards as a shell of a scream escaped her mouth.

The breath flew out of her as her head hit the mattress. Joffrey's eyes seemed to glow as they stared down at her.

"See, this is where you belong." He growled as bile rose in Sansa's throat.

She's been here before, one night in King's Landing. Joffrey had abandoned her and she's been chased into a dark alley. But someone had saved her then, Sandor, and he wasn't here now. No one was here to save her. She wouldn't get away this time. Joffrey wouldn't let her.

Sansa felt his hand sliding along her thigh and she whimpered, making him smile.

"You thought you could get away from me?" He said into her ear. "No matter where you hide, I will find you. No matter where you think you're safe, I will get to you. No matter what man you try to hide behind, I will tear him down and take you."

He could do it too. She wasn't sure how, but something in his voice had always convinced her that he could do whatever he wanted to her, ever since her father had died by Joffrey's will, Sansa had known she'd never be safe again.

He hovered over her, his lips inches from her quivering ones. He scoffed at her.

"And as for your family," Sansa's breath hitched, "Well, I'm sure you'd hate to see your brother take another fall. As for Robb, he's nothing. That mess with the Boltons, that could be just the beginning."

"Please, no." Sansa cried. They were all together, they were happy. She couldn't let him touch her family again. "Please, don't hurt them. Please."

Joffrey watched her beg and laughed.

"You're truly pathetic." He said, climbing off of her. Sansa stayed completely still, too afraid to move. "Just because I don't want you anymore doesn't mean you're not mine."

He stared down at his hands and smiled before looking up at her with his beady, black eyes. "Don't forget that again."

He left the room, and Sansa sat there, crying into the bedding while the party went on outside.

* * *

**Another AN:**

Wow, I feel so mean. I am so sorry. What have I done, oh my god who let me write this?! Please don't hate me.

A few replies:

Jenna on FF: thank you for the review and I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I hope you come back for more!

Brazilian Guy on FF: Luckily for Gendry, Arya is losing her cool just about as much as he is. Stupid Bull, doesn't he know Jaqen's is nothing he needs to worry about?

LightAshMuffin: Since this started out as a AryaxGendry (and since the second half focuses in on them a bit more) I'm leaving the tagging as is, but I'm adding Rickon as the fourth tag. On Ao3 the story is both Arya x Gendry and Rickon x Shireen, (also Sansa x Eventual Happiness, so there's still some hope!).

Shannon On AO3: Yes I'm so glad you liked that bit about Jojen probably already knowing about Bran x Meera. I was trying to figure out a way to include the magical/supernatural elements into a modern AU and my only conclusion was "I'll just make them all super stoned, I guess?" So that's the source of Jojen's power in this story lol.

Mary on AO3: There's your one Sandor reference, hope you enjoyed it!

Veridissima on FF: THANK YOU for all the reviews! You've been so kind and they always bring a smile to my face and I'm so glad you're enjoying Rickon x Shireen!

And thanks in total to everyone for reading/following/favouriting and ESPECIALLY reviewing! Even just taking the few seconds to say what you thought was cute or dumb or awesome no matter what it makes me smile! See you all next week!

 


	10. Chapter 10

Neither of them had said anything. They sat on an empty corner of the balcony, eating ice cream like children.

Every once in a while someone would come up to Rickon talking about weeds or pills, asking or offering. He'd just shake his head grimly and say "Not tonight." or "Go away." or "Fuck off, now."

Shireen sat there, watching him. He hadn't seemed to noticed yet.

"Could you stop staring at me?" He said seriously. Apparently she was wrong.

"Sorry." She said.

Another few minutes of silence passed as she watched him slurp the remnants of his ice cream. She was starting to see why he was called the Wild Wolf.

"You're still staring." He said it less harshly this time.

"Sorry." Shireen repeated.

Rickon inhaled deeply, "So... I guess what Sansa said is really getting to you?"

Shireen had overheard, between bouts of Edric's neurotic shouting, how Sansa had described her. Innocent, impressionable, but that wasn't who she was. That's just all the world had allowed her to be, thanks in large part to her parents. Shireen couldn't let them take all the blame, she knew she deserved some herself.

"Well, how wrong was she really?" She asked quietly.

"Very." Rickon muttered. "I thought."

"Let's be honest, Rickon. I haven't been  _anywhere._ I haven't done  _anything._ I've never taken a chance on anything. I've always played it safe."

Rickong laughed, "Oh." He said. "You're way too hard on yourself."

"I just want to feel like I've actually done something." She sighed.

"Well, look around. You wanna talk about seizing an opportutnity? I can think of about fifty right here at your fingertips. Take one."

Shireen bit down on her spoon. She found herself staring down at the lawn and the mosh pit of dancers congregating between the kegs and the pool.

Rickon smiled at the slightly devilish gleam in her eye. He diagreed with Sansa, he didn't put it there. He'd just brought out what was already there.

"Alright. Let's go." Shireen decided.

"Hmm?" Rickon asked.

"Let's go!" She jumped up from her seat and breezed past him. As Rickon stood she stopped and turned. She had to crane her neck to stare up at him, they were standing so close.

"Why-" She began, but Rickon cut her off.

"I thought you were talking about me." He said, already knowing her question. "I thought you heard what Sansa said about me and I thought you believed her." He smiled. "But that wasn't the issue, huh?" Shireen shook her head.

"People just kinda see us wrong, I guess."

Rickon nodded at her, "That they do." He said as she turned and he followed her into the house.

* * *

They stared up at it: the big, looming house.

Gendry felt ridiculous. He was soaked to the bone, his clothes hung loosely around his body, so did Arya's, and his shoes were giving him blisters.

He could hear her teeth chattering next to him and waved at her expectantly.

"Well?" He asked.

"My clothes are in the guesthouse." She said, motioning in the opposite direction.

"Well that doesn't help me one bit." He grumbled. "Besides, you open that door and those direwolves are gonna charge at you and then everyone will definitely know you're back." She bit her lip and stared at the house. "You have to go in eventually." He said.

"Sure..." She said. "How about next week?"

Gendry scoffed, "You know, this is just sad. The last time I saw you, you wouldn't sit still for a moment. You charged forward, you never looked back. What the hell happened to that Arya? She wasn't afraid of anything, let alone some stupid house."

"You're trying to make me angry enough that I'll storm inside to prove you wrong, aren't you?" She said, side eyeing him.

"... Is it working?" Gendry asked.

Arya took a deep breath, and when she spoke again her voice shook.

"Last time I was in that house Bran could still walk without a limp or a cane, Rickon was practically still a child and Robb and Theon hadn't beaten each other senseless. No Boltons, no Lannisters, no South. Nothing bad had happened to Sansa. Last time we were here I was still a brat to her constantly." He could see tears fighting to get out of her eyes. "Jon was still my brother and I still had a mum and a dad."

"You can't not go into your own house, Arry." Gendry whispered.

"It's not my house anymore." She said. The tears gone from her half-dead eyes.

"Yes it is." He insisted.

"No, it isn't."

Gendry grabbed her arms and shook her. Her eyes remained on the house. He picked her up and turned her away from the house and her eyes slowly landed on him.

"Yes it is. You are a Stark, and Winterfell is your home. There's no forgetting that, you said so yourself, you tried and you failed. Rickon is still young and has plenty of growing up to do, Bran's more than just a cripple and Robb and Theon are practically best friends again. And you could still annoy Sansa if you tried." Gendry laughed quietly to himself. "And Jon's still your brother. Nothing would ever change that. You should've seen his face last year at the party, when he..."  _found out about me and Jeyne._ He stopped and altered his words. "When we got your letter. I swear the moment I read it he went right into that protective big brother mode of his. He's still the same Jon you remember."

"You read my letter?" She asked.

Gendry nodded, " _'Jon, I wanted to let you know that I'm fine. I don't know how this letter might find you, or when you'll get it, but I figured I should let someone know. And of course that someone would be you. I am sorry I haven't written sooner. I'm just finally starting to feel like myself again. I've been away at school. I'm almost done now and then I'll start to find my way back home. Here's hoping I remember the way. Arya.'"_

"You  _memorized_  my letter." Arya said.

"Yeah. It wasn't hard. It was... succinct." Gendry said, avoiding her gaze as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I can't speak to you losing your mum and dad. You won't find them in there and that's the cold truth. But everybody else is in there waiting for you. Your brothers and your sister... you've still got them. And you've still got me. I'm still the same Stupid Bull who used to throw you over his shoulder and carry you when you were too stubborn to move." Arya watched as a grin took over his face. "Like now for example."

And with that he picked grabbed hold of her small waist and hoisted her up over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed and protested as he stormed past the crowd of people, some turned to stare but most remained oblivious. It didn't matter. He moved into the house and chuckled at every small fisted punch she landed on his back. Each one weaker than the last as Arya Stark finally returned home.

* * *

Rickon smirked as he noticed his sister slung over Gendry's shoulder, kickng and screaming and punching his head and shoulders. Both of them were soaking wet too. He laughed as Arya pulled Gendry's hair, making him wince.

Shireen had brought him outside to dance. She'd said big crowds, and getting lost inside them, made her nervous. So he was going to ease her in. They'd started at the edge of the group, which had gotten so big it had almost stuck them in the forest, but Shireen wasn't having it. She grabbed Rickon's hand and pushed them in and with all the people surrounding them they were only pushed closer together.

Neither of them seemed to mind as they joined in with the jumping and swaying and bouncing to whatever dubstep concotion was pounding out of the speakers. But the crowd was too strong and had a mind of its own and after a few songs they were pushed back to the outside by the pool, right where they had begun.

Shireen couldn't help but laugh as she watched the goofy ways Rickon danced through a curtain of her own hair that was skewing her vision. She was in a happy place. The night was cold, but the heat from the pool and all the bodies made it warm and she could feel the excitement of the people and felt it in herself.

Then she felt an arm wrap around her waist and found herself smiling and thinking it was Rickon's. It wasn't. She knew as soon as she looked up and pushed the hair out of her eyes because Rickon's face was stony and cold and his fists were clenched. Then Shireen spun around and found Lancel Lannister standing over her.

"You're far too pretty to be dancing with him." He shouted into her ear.

"Back off Lancel." She said, pushing him away.

"Come on," He said, stepping closer again. "What's your name?"

"It's me, Shireen." She shouted, feeling the presence of Rickon behind her. "Shireen Baratheon."

Lancel's eyes sobered. She couldn't say she was surprised he didn't remember. They'd only met once, years ago when they'd still been distantly related. Still there'd been one thing he'd hadn't been able to take his eyes off back then.

"No way." He muttered stepping back. He tapped Joffrey on the shoulder and he turned around too, and Shireen suddenly felt afraid. "Joff, is that really your little cousin Shireen Baratheon?"

"I don't have a cousin like  _that_." Joffrey sneered.

"Nah, you know." Lancel said vagueyly. "With the..." He raised his hand up around his neck and pointed at his skin. His was white and pale where her's was coarse, and patchy and grey.

Joffrey glared down at Shireen, "One way to find out." He grabbed and cup from a stranger nearby and Lancel followed his lead. They soaked her in beer and some sticky blue liquid and as they laughed she could feel the make-up that had been so carefully applied around her neck slowly begin to clear away. Mascara ran down her eyes and her hair clumped together and began to dry in crusty rings as the wind picked up. Her shirt, a pale yellow with black sequin stars was drenched and she covered herself as the white bra underneath was now clearly visible.

The two Lannisters laughed and pointed at the scar on her neck, not visible through the clumps of leftover beer and make-up. Shireen felt Rickon charge forward but she grabbed him, though she was barely able to hold him back. People were starting to notice the commotion.

"Please, don't." She asked him quietly. Rickon looked down at her, stubborness and anger failing to get the best of him, and stepped away.

Shireen picked up a towel from next to the pool and wiped the remnants of the make-up off. She let go of a shaky breath. Perhaps she should've let Rickon charge at them, fists swinging. She felt just as angry as him and for a moment she considered letting him go, just to watch him do all the things she wished she could do.

She'd been having a fun for the first in forever and for once, she felt good. And she'd taken a chance and put herself out there, if only in the smallest of ways, and they'd come along and ruined it. And now they were still laughing at her, drawing more eyes in her direction. They were still laughing at what she thought must be the dumbest, lamest, most unclever prank she'd ever experienced and all she could think was:  _Am_   _I_   _r_ _eally going to cower to_ them _?_

She pulled the strands of hair off her face and neck and raised a hand to point at her grey birthmark.

"Yep, this is me." She said, toweling off her hair and the dabbing off the rest of the make-up. She saw the remnants of the cover-up remaining on the towel. "Shireen Baratheon." She stepped over to them and lifted her head up high to look at them, not caring that people were pointing and staring at the ruined make-up splattering her eyes or the grey skin covering her neck and the base of her jaw. "Of House Baratheon." She continued "You might remember it. Ours is the Fury." She clenched her hand into a tiny fist and swung.

It connected with Lancel's nose and he went stumbling backwards.

Shireen looked at Rickon, "I didn't hear a roar... did you?" Rickon laughed and let her finish. Lancel's hand was drawn up to his nose, blood had spurted out and mixed with his blonde curls. Crimson and gold. He was too preoccupied to notice as she stepped forward, placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back into the pool. He fell in with a splash that rained down on her and everyone else standing nearby.

"That was kind of fun." Shireen said as Rickon wrapped a towel around her.

People were starting to take notice. Robb was up from his chair, Talisa was by his side, and the dancer's on the lawn had stopped moving. All stood in awe as Joffrey Lannister stood there fuming while his cousin flailed in the water below.

Robb looked at Rickon and nodded to Shireen, then to the house.

"Come on." Rickon whispered. "You don't want to deal with him."

"Yeah, one Lannister was enough." She said, feeling her teeth begin to chatter.

"Yeah." Rickon agreed. "Let's go get cleaned up." He said, putting his arms around her and guiding her inside. In the distance she could hear Joffrey screaming hysterically as Lancel fell back into the pool.

"What about him?" She asked Rickon.

"Don't worry, I know someone who'll take care of him."

* * *

Sansa was up in her own room once again, searching through her closet for something else to wear while ripping a comb through her slightly tangled hair.

She didn't want to be here anymore. She didn't want to wear these clothes or this make-up or her own skin. She wanted everyone to be gone so that Winterfell would be the same ghostly quiet place it usually was.

She tore through her things until she found something suitable in a light shade of grey and threw it on. She ran some water over her face and touched up her make-up and paced around her room. She cleaned up and straightened and tidied until there was nothing left to do but return to the party.

So with a deep breath and a sigh, she opened her door and ventured down the stairs.

The people had calmed down slightly, it was late and the dancefloor was less crowded, though now people were collapsed drunkenly around the outskirts of the room instead. The conscious ones were sharing drinks and pills and laughing and talking. People were pressed against the walls, pinned there by significant others or just others who would do the trick for a night.

Many had retreated outside where the party was still as alive as ever in the backyard.

The lack of crowd made her stand out more. She figured that was how Margaery found her so quickly.

"Hello Sansa." She said placing a warm hand on her back and guiding her away from the stairs. "Have you seen Mya around?"

"No," Sansa said, knitting her eyebrows together. She hadn't seen Mya since she'd helped a crowd of people hoist her and her brothers into the air. But why was Margaery looking for her? "I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Margaery said with a reassuring smile. "Come with me. We should talk."

"Yes we should." Sansa said as she felt herself being guided into her kitchen. Sansa resisted.

"Listen, Margaery, I really think you should call off your engagement." Sansa said.

The only thought in Sansa's head was that she he had to warn her. She couldn't let Margaery go through what she'd gone through. Years of fear and threats and self-doubt and insecurity and abuse of every kind. Everyone in the South said Margaery and Joffrey were the perfect couple but hadn't Sansa thought the same thing when she'd been his girlfriend? He'd proven her so wrong. And she couldn't believe he was capable of being any different with anyone else.

She's liked Mya's idea, about leaving them alone, but that wasn't possible anymore. Just because Margaery had let Sansa down in the past didn't mean Sansa could do the same now. All she had to do was make her see. All she had to was talk to her.

But Margaery's eyes were laughing.

"That isn't really what I wanted to talk about, dear." Margaery said.

"But we have to talk about this, it's more important than anything else." Sansa insisted.

"What makes you say that?" Margaery asked. Her eyes flicked over Sansa's shoulder to where people were sprawled out around the table and countertops, slowly coming out of their haze to watch the conversation.

Sansa's eyes turned too, and she found the Lannisters had left the kitchen.

"He's just... he's no different than he was before. You have to see that."

"Sansa, dear, you don't know what you're talking about." Margaery said, crossing her arms.

"I do!" She shouted frantically, drawing more eyes, "I was stuck with him for years before I got away. He's cruel and awful, Margaery. You know that. You saw what he did to me!"

"Yes. I saw what he did to you. But I'm not you, Sansa. And may I just point out that I watched your relationship crumble and fall apart, but you haven't seen more than two seconds of mine."

"It didn't crumble and fall apart, Margaery. He snapped it in half when my father died all because of him!"

"Sansa, please, don't get so hysterical."

"Please, Margaery, please." Sansa cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "You can't marry him."

She was making Margaery mad. Though the girl hid it well her eyes gave her away, the way they anxiously flitted to each person in the room watching them. And the tenseness in her arms as she crossed them over her chest.

"I can and I'm going to, Sansa. It's not as if you speak to him anymore, or me for that matter! You made it perfectly clear that you wanted nothing to do with us anymore. You couldn't just be happy for me, could you?"

"No." Sansa whispered to herself. She couldn't be turning this around on her. She couldn't be that desperate to make everything look okay again.

Margaery began to storm away. But Sansa spun around and grabbed her arm.

"Marg-"

"You know what, Sansa?" Margaery said. "I brought you in here because I wanted to talk to you about coming to visit my family in Highgarden. But if you're not going to be happy for me or my family, I see no reason to ask." Her voice was quiet and sad as she spoke, doing it's best to earn the room's sympathy.

Margaery pulled her arm away but Sansa grabbed it again.

"Please Margaery," She said, stepping close to her friend and speaking quietly. "I  _have_  seen him. He found me in the guest room downstairs. He pinned me down to the bed and I thought he would... he didn't. But it was just like it used to be, threatening me and my family. I can't let you go through that. Please listen to me."

Margaery shook her head, "Seven hells, you  _are_ obsessed. Joffrey had said you would be like this but I told him you were fine and that you would be happy for us. I'm sorry I was so wrong." Margaery cleared her throat and batted her eyelashes before straightening up and eyeing Sansa carefully, "If you're not going to be happy for us then don't bother speaking to me anymore. Not until you get over this self-sabotaging jealousy and start acting like yourself again."

She stepped forward and hugged Sansa for a long while. "Sorry darling. I can't handle another scandal right now, all the pressure the Lannister's are under they...  _we_ can't take anymore bad press. I'm sorry but I have a plan, you'll see."

She pulled away and left the room without so much as another glance in Sansa's direction. People around her began to whisper and gossip and point as Sansa stood there stunned and helpless.

* * *

**AN: Sorry the chapters going up a little late tonight, I blame Thanksgiving and copious amounts of turkey!**

**Hope you enjoyed this week's update (and badass Shireen) and I'll see you next Sunday!**


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

Shireen was back in Rickon's room. The towel was soaking wet and wrapped around her chest which she held tightly to her body. Rickon was rummaging through his clothes looking for something he could lend her.

She glance around the room while he searched. Pictures were strewn all over his bookshelves containing various Stark children and their direwolves. A few of Rickon with some Wildlings. One of his parents. She looked closer at one of the pictures and pointed to the girl standing next to him. It looked like the girl from earlier. The one who's knife was now safely tucked in Shireen's boot.

"Who's this?" She asked.

Rickon turned momentarily and squinted at it. "That's Arya." He said like it was obvious.

" _That's_  Arya?" Shireen gaped. "She looks so different here."

"What do you mean?" Rickon asked, stopping his search and turning to face her. "You've seen her?"

"Yeah, she talked to me earlier."

"When?"

Shireen shrugged, "Tonight, before the party started. I was out on the front lawn and she just kind of appeared."

"Hmm." He said, staring at Shireen. "What did you two talk about?"

"Nothing, really. She just told me to be safe and careful. Is that weird? Does she not normally talk to people?"

"She's been gone for years," Rickon explained. "As far as I know you're the only person other than me that she  _has_ talked too."

"I guess that is a bit strange." Shireen mumbled. Then she reached down to her ankle and pulled out the pocket knife. "She gave me this." Rickon held his hands out and Shireen tossed it to him.

He chuckled, "She must've really liked you. She loves this thing."

"I'd heard she'd disappeared." Shireen mentioned quietly.

"Nah, she just took off for a while."

"And no one else knows she's back?" He shook his head. "Why not?" She asked.

Rickon thought it over for a minute and then continued searching for a shirt.

"She's afraid." He said over his shoulder.

The thought of it made Shireen laugh. " _Arya Stark_  is afraid?" She said. She'd heard stories about Arya from Mya and especially from Gendry. It wasn't that unusual. She'd known a little something about all the Starks before she met them, everyone did. They had reputations that followed the mention of their names almost without fail.

Arya Stark was known for being strongly outspoken, and unlike Sansa, quite tomboyish. She was called the She-Wolf. She was fierce and independent and opinionated. And she wasn't someone who feared but someone to be feared, wolves were predators after all. The idea of someone like Arya being afraid of anything seemed ridiculous to timid little Shireen.

Or course, if Rickon had proved anything to her tonight, it was that reputations were not to be trusted. "I guess you can't believe everything you hear, huh?"

"Or see." He added, coming towards her with soft grey t-shirt that looked like it might fall off her shoulders. "For example, tonight you might look like a Stark but you are clearly a Baratheon."

Shireen beamed up at him, "The fury was most definitely mine tonight, huh?"

"Definitely." Rickon nodded. Both their hands remained gripped on the t-shirt, it tied them together for a moment. "What you did, it was seriously impressive. Although, I can't say your cousins will be too please with the impression I've made on you."

Shireen chuckled, "Nah, that was all me, I think."

"I agree." Rickon said. Shireen glanced down at the towel covering her and then at the shirt and Rickon nodded. "Now, thanks to Sansa, I'm a convincing gentlemen when I have to be, so I'm going to turn around while you change and then I'll take that down to the wash for you. However, I'm also a teenaged boy so I'll let you know I'm probably going to try and peek."

Shireen laughed, unsure of how to respond as they retreated to separate corners of room. She pulled her blouse over her head and discarded it to the floor. She glanced over her shoulder only to see Rickon swiftly turning away and her grin widened. She threw the shirt on over her head and walked back over to Rickon. She tapped him gently on the shoulder and he turned and looked her over.

The shirt was huge. The seams along the shoulder were halfway down her arms and the hem landed somewhere near her knees, making the edge of her skirt barely visible.

Rickon nodded "You look good in Stark colours." He said. Shireen felt a blush creep up over her cheeks. "Probably best you wait here, I'll go throw this in the wash." She nodded and let him pass.

He stopped at the door. "I'm sure if you wanted to, you could go into Sansa's room and borrow her make-up, I know she wouldn't mind. But you don't need too, you look just fine without it. Prettier, actually." He smiled at her and disappeared from the room, closing the door securely behind him.

Shireen collapsed on the bed and let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Oh boy, I'm in trouble." She said, staring up at the ceiling with a grin permanently etched on her face.

* * *

Arya sat on top of the washing machine. Her arms and legs were crossed. Gendry was leaning against the opposing wall of the messy, cramped room. Neither of them were speaking, the only sounds were the humming of the dryer as their clothes spun round and round madly in it and the repetitive beat from the music.

"So..." Gendry began. Arya, of course, interuppted him.

"Did you ever think of me, while I was gone?" She asked.

Gendry couldn't help but laugh, "I think by this point it's become perfectly, obviously, clear that I thought about you quite a lot while you were gone."

"I thought of you too." She said shyly, getting to her true point.

"You did?" Gendry nodded.

"Yeah, that's actually kinda how this whole thing started." She said.

"What whole thing?" He asked.

Then there was just the humming of the dryer as it rattled along. Arya was silent as she bit her lip and stared down at the ground.

"Gendry, there's something I need to tell you." She said.

"Okay," He said patiently. "Tell me."

She hesitated for a moment and when her bottom lip finally escaped from between her teeth, it quivered nervously.

"Arry, whatever it is, you can tell me." He said.

She swallowed slowly and nodded. "For the past few years I haven't quite been myself, but then things started happening that I couldn't ignore and I had to be Arya again. There's so much I know that I have to tell you about, I have a lot of secrets. I guess I don't know where to start." He couldn't remember the last time he'd Arya ramble on, he wasn't sure he ever had.

"Start wherever you want. We've got all night." She looked uncertain. "I'm not letting you get away again." He stated it firmly and it made her smile.

"Alright," She said. Her shoulder were hunched and tense as she clung to the edge of the washing machine. Her knuckles were white. "Wherever I want."

Gendry watched her closely and she tried to figure just where that was. She was fidgeting and she looked so uncomfortable.

They were each wearing a plain white t-shirt, which could belong to any one of her brothers, while they waited for their own clothes to dry. Arya practically swam inside hers while Gendry's fit just right. He marvelled at the fact that she was able to make herself look even smaller.

"Earlier, when I told you it was my dad that made me remember, that he was the one who brought me back, that was only kind of half true." She stopped. "No, no I don't want to start there. This is the first time I'm telling anyone any of this. The only person I've really talked to since I've got back is Rickon, but he's never one to pry."

Gendry waited for her to continue. "There really is a lot I have to tell you." She chewed on her lip some more.

"Alright, well, where do you want to begin?" He asked again, trying to drag the words from her mouth.

"Where do I want to begin?" She echoed, still uncertain. Then, a slow, very devilish smile crept over her face, and Gendry felt worried. "I know about what happened with you and Jeyne, last year." She said.

"What?" He stuttered. He really hadn't been expecting that. Though this whole night had been the opposite of his expectations so he figured it might be best to just give up.

"You two didn't really fizzle out like you said. You kind of exploded into a million pieces." She joked. He didn't laugh. "I know what you did, or what you said really, that made her hate you."

"Arya, whatever you think you know, whatever Rickon told you-"

"You said my name." She said. He stopped making excuses and just stared at her. "That's what happened, right? You and Jeyne were... and you said my name?"

Silence.

"It was right after we'd gotten your letter." He said. That was as far as he was willing to expand on that particular memory. "I'd spent the year trying deny the fact that you were dead. Then that stupid letter came. Can you really blame me for having you stuck on my brain?" He chuckled humourlessly.

She seemed lost for words, another first. "I... I, I guess- well, I never knew you felt-"

"Me either." He said.

He couldn't even make himself look at her. All he felt was embarassment, and a desperate urge to kick Rickon's ass. That fucking Wildling wolf had told her everything. Arya's eyes seemed to stay trained away from his too. Both were too afraid to see how the other would react to them.

The music picked up tempo again, and the wall Genry was leaning on began to vibrate with it's slow beat.

It was Arya who finally spoke.

"So you  _really_ thought of me while I was gone?" She chuckled and Gendry finally started to feel okay, despite still feeling completely ashamed. If Arya was laughing, everything seemed alright. They laughed long and hard, until Arya was clutching her stomach. When they quieted down Gendry just shrugged and didn't bother to respond.

"I thought of you too." She repeated, though with a new meaning to her words. He looked up at her and saw her legs stretched out towards the ground and a confident smirk on her lips. Her eyes were grey but they were no longer cold, instead them seemed to smile and dance at him and invite him in closer.

"A lot." She added, as she slipped off her perch. "Even when I was trying to forget everything."

"And how'd that work out for you?" He asked as he watched her feet pad their way towards him silently.

"Well I'm back, aren't I?" She said, her hand reached out towards him, resting inches above his skin without ever touching down.

"To be honest," He said. "I'm still not sure." He'd caught glimpses of so many parts of her. Little bits of the stubborn, young Arry he'd travelled with, and the cold, calculated Arya he didn't know at all. All he wanted to see was the girl he'd hoped she'd grow up to be, one who was happy, or would be with his help.

"Then I'll have to prove it to you." She said sweetly. Her smile wasn't seductive or foreign, and it wasn't an act put on by some former version of the girl he loved. It was simple and feisty and he was sure it was reserved just for him.  _There you are._

Her hand traced it's way up his arms as her smile grew but he wasn't waiting for her any longer. His lips crashed onto hers and he was then very aware of how real she was.

He could feel the breath push out of her, and a squeal of surprise as his lips touched hers, then after a moment he felt all her force trying to match his as she rose to the tips of her toes, desperately trying to gain some control.

He groaned and slid his hands down her sides, and grabbing hold of her legs and picking her up. She wrapped her legs around his torso as he placed her on top of the dryer.

His hands continued to roam her sides, stretching out the hem of her borrowed shirt as she detanlged her arms from around him so he could pull it over her head. It landed somewhere on the ground, neither care where.

Her legs were wrapped around him, her heels digging into his lower back and pulling him closer. Her arms were everywhere at once, pulling him closer, toying with the hem of his shirt, reaching underneath to run her ghostlike fingers along his stomach, up to his chest, then once his shirt was also a pule on the floor, through his hair.

She whimpered as he bit down on her lip, her tongue darting through his lips to nip at whatever it could touch. His hands ran up her legs and along the lean muscles of her torso as her's stayed glued around his neck. His lips travelled, down her jaw, her neck, pushed her hair out of the way and his tongue trailed along her collarbone, while his hand travelled up, massaging her breast through her bra she she moaned above him.

"We should move this somewhere else." She said, panting as his kisses moved lower and lower.

"Why?" He said. Her fingers scratched along his scalp, pulling him back up her lips.

She quieted when his lips were back on hers. They kissed hungrily, desperately, for a few more seconds before Arya pulled away, resting her forhead against his as she tried to catch her breath.

"Because," She said, pointing one hand at the door while the other reached up and grabbed a clean white shirt off the rack. "That."

There was a brief flicker of light under the door and then it cracked open. Rickon Stark stood there, in all his smirking glory.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said.

"Then why did you?" Arya said, glaring as she pulled a new shirt over hear head.

"Shireen's shirt." He said, holding up the beer stained evidence.

"Oh," Gendry nodded as Arya shrugged and pushed him out of the way so Rickon could put the shirt in to wash. "Wait, what? Why isn't Shireen wearing her shirt?" He shouted.

"Relax. Some assholes threw their drinks at her so I lent her one of my shirts while this one washes." He looked carefully at Arya, making sure she was paying attention. "She held her own. I'd like to see what's happening out on the back lawn. Those Lannisters are gonna pay."

"What?" Arya shouted. "There are Lannisters here? Who?"

Rickon shrugged and smiled. "A bunch of them, they came with Margaery Tyrell, cuz, you know, she brought Joffrey."

"WHAT!" Arya shouted. She pushed Rickon out of the way and grabbed her black hoodie out of the dryer. As she zipped it up she growled, "I told him never to come back here."

"You don't have to tell me." Rickon said, "Though I guess he could use a reminder." Then she threw open the door and stormed out of the room.

Gendry stood there for a moment, completely confused, while Rickon put some stain remover on the shirt.

"You know Jon's gonna kill you right?" He mentioned casually as he wiped away the stains of blue and green.

Gendry shook off his confusion for a moment and thought it over. He was probably right. Jon had told him to take his chance earlier tonight, but his elation would soon wear off, he was sure.

But now that he'd kissed Arya there was no way he was going back to not kissing her. It was as simple as that. And while he was sure Jon wouldn't be surprised once he heard what had happened, but he would be pissed. And Gendry definitely didn't want to trade one Stark for another.

"He finally get his baby sister back only to find out that his best friend is..." Rickon shuddered and threw the shirt into wash. "But don't worry about that right now." He continued, clapping a hand on Gendry's shoulder. "Instead worry about who Arya's about to kill on the lawn. We should really get outside."

"She told you me you were the only person she's talked to since she got back." He said as he and Rickon walked downstairs.

"You, me and Shireen. That's it." He confirmed.

"So then when did she tell him never to come back?" He asked.

Rickon answered with a question of his own. "When was the last time someone put Joffrey Lannister in his place?"

Then it finally dawned on him. She'd been back, to Winterfell. The Wildling friend at last year's party, the one who'd attacked Joffrey, the one who'd been there with everyone else to witness Gendry's fight with Jeyne.

"She's gonna rip him to shreds." Gendry said.

"Now you're getting it. Personally, I think we should just let her go for it. She knows something, I don't know what, but it scares the shit outta me. Get down there and make sure you can restrain her before she goes too far." Gendry shot him a look and Rickon shrugged, "Do the best you can. I'm going to find Shireen."

He disappeared before Gendry could protest.

And then the music quieted down, and people were running out to the balcony, and swarming down the stairs and Gendry ran along with them, pushing them out of his way as they all tried to get front row seats to the show.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is this week's (October 27th) chapter. Sorry for the confusion! There was some slight goofing over the chapter numbers but hopefully it's all making sense now! Thanks to both Mary and Shannon for pointing out the error.

* * *

Sansa went out the front door and wandered around to the back of the house. Margaery had turned on her, she'd shown where her loyalty truly lied, to herself and her family, which Sansa could've understood, but it also belonged to the Lannisters, and that she could even comprehend, let alone forgive.

She didn't want to be seen by anyone right now. Everywhere she looked she felt like everyone was pointing and whispering about how pathetic she was,  _'How could she not see what was happening. Poor, naive, Sansa Stark.'_ She imagined them saying. She didn't think she was that person anymore, leaving Joffrey and King's Landing had made her strong and so much smarter, she'd learned to fight for herself, she'd found her home and true friends. But she'd let herself be duped by Margaery, again, and now she wasn't sure she'd changed all that much from the girl who'd believed in songs and stories about knights who saved ladies in towers. Joffrey hadn't been her knight in shining armor, neither had Margaery, and she couldn't seem to save herself either.

She couldn't talk to Mya about it. The only person who hated the Lannisters more than the Starks were the Baratheons. And Mya had so obviously developed her own personal hatred of Margaery. She was scared she would simply say "Well, I told you so Sansa, I relly don't know what you expected." She was afraid she'd look at her like she imagined everyone else was looking at her. And if that happened she knew she would have a friend left in this world. She couldn't take that tonight, or ever.

So she was retreating to the guesthouse, in the shrubbery outlining the backyard she was perfectly hidden in darkness. The party seemed quieter down here in the shadows and smaller too. And she was happy for a moment, without a single drop of attnention turned on her.

She reached the garden and it was surprisingly empty. Usually, by this time of very early morning it was populated by sleepy, drunken couple eager to gaze up at the stars and whisper until they fell asleep. She unlatched the gate and unlocked the door, making sure to secure both tightly behind her.

Each direwolf rose to attention as she walked past them they were chained up inside the house as an extra precaution. Sansa kept going until she found hers, her Lady, lying patiently in the corner of the room. She curled up in her pet's soft fur and began to cry.

"You'll still be my friend after all the others are gone, won't you Lady?" She cried, letting her fingers stretch out in the soft white fur. Lady nuzzled her nose into her owner's arm and Sansa let out a shaky breath. She cried for a good long while until her wolf's fur was soaked.

When she lifted her eyes she felt good, and clean and tired. But immediately confused. There was a duffel bag full of dirty clothes lying next to the bed. And there was books strewn all over the nightstand. She craned her neck around and realized the bathroom was a complete and total mess. And the small kitchenette at the other end of the room was disgusting too.

"Is someone fucking living in here?" She asked the room. "Who would have the-"

She stopped as she counted the direwolves.

Summer lay by the door, his yellow eyes shining in the light. Grey Wind, was almost identical to Bran's wolf expect that his attention would not drift from the door. Shaggydog was nearby rolling his black fur restlessly in his chains. Lady was lying underneath Sansa's fingertips. Ghost with his white fur was nipping at her feet.

And there was another, hidden between Ghost and the bed.

"Nymeria?" Sansa whispered. The direwolf's ear perked up and she slowly lifted her head from the ground. "Nymeria." Sansa repeated and the wolf padded silently over to her. Sansa lifted her hand the wolf ran it's fure into her palm as she nuzzled her nose into Sansa's neck. Lady sat up and the other wolves began to circle around, welcoming home their lost sister and comforting Sansa. She found there were tears in her eyes. "She's home." She said to herself. "She came back."

Outside there was a loud crash and the music stopped completely. The direwolves rose and their eyes all trained on the door and the commotion beyond it.

* * *

When Rickon got upstairs Shireen was already moving down the hallway.

"What's happening down there?" She asked.

"More Lannister trouble, only now my sister's getting involved." He grabbed her arm and guided her back to his room. "Trust me, you don't want to be down there right now."

"Oh yes I do." She insisted as he led her to the window.

"You'll have a better view from the cheap seats." He said as they climbed back out to the roof.

"I don't care about the view I care about my family." She insisted. "If Lannisters are involved and Starks are involved what are the chances the Baratheons are gonna stand idly by?"

"Sometimes it's better to not be in the thick of it. Let's just wait and see." Shireen shook her head, but Rickon persisted. "Don't worry, if there's trouble we'll go help."

"We better." She crossed her arms and watched the scene unfold.

Below them a figure in a black hoodie came charging out onto the lawn, hood was pulled tight around their face so in order to see around them.

"Who's that?" Shireen asked.

The black hooded figure look around frantically, then charged once they found the Lannisters.

"That's Arya," Rickon said as his sister ran up to Joffrey, placed her hands on his chest and shoved him back.

"What's she doing?" Shireen asked.

"Finishing what she started." Rickong said, narrowing his eyes at the scene below.

Joffrey Lannister threw the empty beer bottle in his hand down at the ground, letting the glass shatter around him and Arya. The music stopped as everyone took attention, Arya pulled her hood down and smirked. Out of the corner of her eye Shireen could see Rickon leaning forward.

"Here we go." Rickon grinned.

* * *

Arya stormed outside, zipping up her sweater and pulling the hood up so it covered her eyes. People seemed to just naturally move out of her way as she took off through the house, down the stairs and outside. She didn't stop until the night air hit her like a punch in the face.

Her eyes scanned the crowd looking for that ridiculous blonde hair that her fingers were just itching to rip out. And she found it easily enough, just like last year. And six years ago. Gods, she still cursed herself for not realizing sooner.

After leaving behind her home she'd forgotten everything. She'd succeeded too, more than she wanted to let on. And while several things had brought her back to herself the person who had the biggest hand in it wasn't even here to be thanked. Her father had died years before, and now his work was bringing her home and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and thank him. But after him, came Sansa.

She'd been in King's Landing, working with Jaqen on her final project when she'd found the Hound. No longer Joffrey's loyal lackey, he was quick to divulge as much information as he pleased. Like how Joffrey had beaten Sansa, and threatened her, teased her with threats to her family and promises that they were already dead and gone.

Years spent thinking Sansa had chosen to stay in King's Landing, that she'd abandoned the North, House Stark, and her. Years spent hating her for everything she thought her sister stood for: perfect, ladylike, girly, traitorous Sansa. Years spent trying to forget her and every emotion that tied them together. She'd spent so many years being wrong and now, she'd had one night to make up for it.

So Arya had snuck into the Stark Party, she'd told off Joffrey and she'd gotten her first glimpse of her family after years of pulling away. That was the third thing that tugged on her heart and helped bring her back. Overhearing Gendry's relationship troubles hadn't hurt either.

She'd returned to King's Landing the next day with a new mission in mind. Not just exposition but inquisition. It wasn't just about revenge anymore, it was about setting right what was so out of place.

It hadn't taken long but still she'd bided her time, making sure the roots took hold, and tonight was meant to be the fruits of her labours. So why did some people insist on ruining this for her?

She pulled her hood down and stormed over to Joffrey, shouting his new name "Oi, Lannister! Hey Lannister!" He didn't respond so she reached out and shoved him. He stumbled and turned around, his eyes wide and beady as he seethed at her. "Still haven't learned you place, I see." She said. "It's not here, in case that clears some things up for you."

"My place is wherever I chose it to be." He said "And who the fuck are you?"

Arya chuckled, and even she could hear how her voice sounded slightly deranged. "That's a very difficult question. I've gone by a hundred different names, none of them really seemed to stick. I'm no one. I'm practically a ghost. But that's not half as interesting as who you are. Joffrey Lannister son of Cersei Barahteon nee' Lannister and her brother Jaime Lannister. That is interesting information isn't it? But everyone already knows this." She smiled greedily, her eyes locked with his. "I made sure of it."

Joffrey gripped the bottle in his hand tightly, wringing it as if it were Arya's own neck.

"I demand you to tell me WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE!" He shouted, throwng the bottle to the ground.

Her smile only grew as the music shut off leaving them in total silence.

"I'm Arya Stark back from the fucking dead. Get the fuck out of my house."

Her words were met by total silence.

A crowd had formed around them but she could feel everyone leaning away from her. She felt uncomfortable, and kept her eyes trained on Joffrey, who was staring at her like she really had returned from the dead, just so she didn't have to see if everyone else was doing it too. Behind her there was movement. And someone pushed there way to the front of the crowd and stepped into the hollow space created by the shattered glass.

"Arya?" A man's voic called out gruffly.

She turned and saw Jon standing there. He looked exactly the same. His hair was still a mop of curly black hair, that half hid his grey eyes, which matched hers. She and him, her without any Tully looks in her at all, and him so much like a Stark, now they both knew why.

It hardly seemed fair to her, that he looked the same while she looked so completely different. She was still a short, skinny little thing but her eyes had changed with all she'd seen. Her hair was longer, her face longer, every bit of her was older, and wiser. And he was still Jon.

"Arya." He said more certainly. Her eyes crinkled as tears pooled in them.

"Hi, Jon." She said. A wispy smile hit her lips.

She walked towards him slowly and then threw her arms around his shoulders, just like she had done when she'd last said goodbye to him, back when she'd only been a little girl.

He held her there for a good long while, and at one point she heard him whisper, "It's really you." She looked over his shoulder, Gendry stood right behind him and Arya beamed at him.

"Arya?" Another voice said. Robb emerged from the crowd next, Bran at his heels, and Arya had to tap Jon's shoulder to remind him he had to let go at some point. The second her put her feet back on the ground she was only swept up by her other brother.

Robb looked different, older and much more grown. And Bran looked so tall and wise, having been just a little ten year-old boy when Arya'd last laid eyes on him.

She hugged him gently but he mumbled something into her hair and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Afterwards when the four Starks were surrounding each other, and everyone had watched their reunion, Arya wiped tears from her eyes and quietly asked, "Where's Sansa?"

Her brothers seemed dumbfounded, both by Arya's return and Sansa's diappearance. Arya looked around frantically but could't find her.

"Where's Rickon?" Jon asked.

"On the roof." Arya responded easily as she continued scanning the crowd.

"What?" Robb asked. Arya pointed up and their eyes turned.

Robb sent a glare up to his little brother and his friend that said they'd better get down before he made them come down.

"Where's Sansa?" Arya repeated. Gendry nodded to the crowd and a girl appeared with shoulder length black hair and smoky eyes, she ran to their side and shook her head.

"I've been looking everywhere, I can't find her. She disappeared..." Her eyes turned to Joffrey, "After she saw him. It all started happening after she saw him."

Arya turned on her heels and found Joffrey still glaring at her, "What did you do to her?" She growled, her feet stomped towards him.

"Where is she? What've you done?" Jon reached out and grabbed her arm and held her back.

Arya fought against him futilely. She might've been older but she was hardly any bigger, plus she didn't really want to fight against Jon. She wanted to hold him, all of them, and tell them everything she knew now. But first there was business to take care of.

"Jon, let me go!" She screamed.

She heard Joffrey scoff and craned her neck around to look at him, "Yeah, now I remember you. You're were that savage little Northerner girl who sicked that wolf on me." He muttered. "I see you haven't changed. Still barbaric, though that's the North for you."

The Stark boys stopped in their place. Jon's grip loosened slightly. Robb cocked an unimpressed eyebrow and glanced down at his sister. Bran scoffed and shook his head. Then Robb nodded at Jon, he let go of Arya and they all waited to see her attack. But she was calm as still water.

She laughed. "That's not the last time you saw me. Don't you remember? I know everyone else here does."

"What the fuck are you on about?" Joffrey shouted. Arya just grinned at him. "Crazy bitch." Joffrey muttered, turning away from her.

"Here," Arya said, pulling her black hood up to cover her eyes. "Let me remind you."

Arya charged at Joffrey. She took off at a sprint, though the boy was only a few feet away. He turned around at the exact moment she pounced and tackled him to the ground.

There was nothing so satisfying smack as Joffrey Lannister's head hid the cement. His eyes rolled back in his head before shooting up to meet Arya's. The hood masked her eyes so all that could be seen was the wolfish growl of her mouth as she spoke to him, "I thought I told you to stay away from Sansa Stark?" She whispered. She heard Joffrey gasp, so quietly and daintily. And perhaps no else heard it, but she did and for once that was enough. But there would be so much more.

She reached up and pulled the hood off her face, "Remember me better now?" She smirked. She felt giddy seeing Joffrey Lannister squirm underneath her weight.

Her fingernails dug into his arms, and she could feel him tensing as she snarled at him. "In a few moments," She whispered, "I'm going to detract my claws from your pitifully sknny arms and you are going to run. I don't particularly care  _where_ you run, as long as it's South. Run and never return. Go live your cretinous life somewhere far, far away from her. Because the Starks are home now, and the North is ours, and if you haven't figured that out yet, we will be sure to teach you that as many times as it takes you to learn. So run,  _Lannister,_ before I spill  _more_  of your secrets."

His eyes held pure rage, "... You?" He snarled.

Arya simply smiled, "Me." She nodded. She pulled her hands away and he stayed still on the ground. She back away and his eyes followed. She smirked and turned away from him and walked back to her family, confident that he would get up and skulk away.

But he didn't. He stood, his half-clenched fists shook. And once his whole body was shaking with anger and his face was red he charged right back at her. She only saw the pride in her brothers' eyes shift to disbelief for one second then she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Nobody speak to me like that!" He screamed, his fingers crunched into full fledged fists. He grabbed her, whipped her around, and with one quick swing his knuckles connected with her jaw. She fell to the ground at her brother's feet.

She chuckled as she lifted her hand to her lip. She sucked back her blood as Gendry's arms held hers and pulled her up. Bran reached down and wiped the blood from her chin. Behind her she could hear Robb and Jon attacking Joffrey. Suddenly, the crowd was closing in around them all, eager to join in the fight.

"Are you okay?" Gendry asked, drawing her attention forward.

"I'm fine." She shouted over the din.

"Good." Gendry said, his hands stayed firmly on her shoulders.

The girl with the black hair appeared at their side, "Hi, I'm Mya." She said succinctly.

"I figured." Arya replied, waving her bloody fingers in a makeshift greeting.

"Nice to meet you." Mya smiled before turning to Gendry. "Does this mean we can kick his ass now?"

"Be my guest." Gendry shrugged. Mya took off at a run to join the meelee.

Arya turned around and watched. Gendry stood at her side. People had joined in the fight on both sides. And where there had once been a party there was now a full on brawl. People lined the balcony while others raced out of the house to grab a piecec of action.

"Was this your plan?" Gendry asked, shoving a drunken Bolton into the pool.

"No." Arya said, as she watched the scene unfold, pausing only for a moment to punch a man who was about to attacked Gendry. He ducked as Arya swung, her small but powerful fist hitting the man's jaw. Gendry stood up, looking bewildered while Arya just smiled. "It's better."

* * *

"Shouldn't we do something?" Shireen asked.

Rickon kept his eyes glued to the scene below.

"Yes." He said. "We should definitely do... something."

"Well? What?" She asked.

Rickon looked up, her eyes were worried and her voice was tense. "I'm formuating an idea."

He heard her sigh impatiently and couldn't help but smile. But Shireen wasn't smiling, she was watching Mya scratch at people, as if she had claws, in order to get her hands on a Lannister, any Lannister. She was watching Gendry attempt to hold her back as he kept an eye on Arya attacking people left, right, and centre. Edric was running around the pool, hungry for a fight, but he would have to get through Starks, and Karstarks, and Greyjoys, Mormonts and Glovers, Reeds and Manderlys and so many more before he could get anywhere near Joffrey.

And he seemed had a surprising amount of allies. Ramsay Snow and other Boltons were fighting back, and the Lannisters seemed to multiply by the minute.

Renly stood by Mya's side and Loras was next to him. No longer trying to keep the peace the two sides, he fought back against anyone who tried to lay a hand on Renly's niece.

Rickon reached down into Shireen's boot and though he felt her squirm at his touch her eyes stayed trained on the ground.

She hated watching them fight but she couldn't look away. She hated that people who'd hugged her and protected her, who loved her and who she loved in return were now attacking like vicious animals on the lawn before her. She took the knife from Rickon's hand and felt an ache in her knuckles. There were bruises already forming where she'd hit Lancel.

"You think you could do some damage with that?" Rickon asked.

"Yeah," She answered. "I think I can handle that. I've got a plan."

She went over to the window and once she crawled through she found Rickon on the other side, waiting for her.

"What exactly is that plan?" He asked.

"What don't you trust me?" She asked, nervously glancing from the knife to the crowd.

"Sure I do, but, I don't exactly trust the mob down there, and I'm pretty sure your plan involves trying to walk right past them. That'll be your first mistake."

She smiled, "What... are you worried about me?" He looked away, and she could've sworn she saw him blush. "I'm gonna be fine. I'll stick to the shadows, or whatever the saying is."

"Just in case, I'll be making one hell of a distraction for you." He said.

"Great, I like this plan." She smiled. "We'd make great partners in crime." She smiled uncertainly and turned away. Then stopped herself. She stared down at his shirt, which was still covering her body, keeping her warm.

When she turned he was still waiting for her. "It's a two point plan, this plan of mine." She said, wandering her way back over to him.

"Yeah." he said.

"And it's pretty daring, but there's a lot of possible payoff." She smiled at him. "So, do you trust me?"

"I really do." He said. Then he looked down and laughed, "Look, Shireen if you want to kiss me,"

Shireen dropped her smile. "Well, I was going to but now that you've stolen my thunder!" She shouted, reaching forwards and slapping his arm, hard.

"Go on then." Rickon said, leaning forward. He smugly closed his eyes and cracked his knuckles, mocking her with his arrogance.

"No." She said, glaring at him.

"What?" He opened his eyes and found her leaning away.

"No. You've stolen my moment, now you'll have to wait until I can surprise you again." She turned and left the room. " _If_ I choose to." She said, shutting the door behind her.

Rickon smirked and turned to the roof's edge. From there he could see as she ran out the front door, around the side of the house and into the shadow of the bushes.

He could see eyes following her, he could see people moving towards her, and attacking her too, the poor helpless Baratheon in Stark colours. He could see it all about to happen in his mind as he stood on the edge of the roof and yelled out, "Hey Lannister!"

A few people outside the core group of fighters heard him, but it wasn't enough. So he yelled again, louder, "LANNISTER." That shut them all up. From up here Robb looks almost as pissed as Joffrey. Rickon felt like a king standing up on that roof staring down at them all. He lifted his arms out wide and shouted as loud as he could "You haven't met the Wolf yet!"

Then he jumped.


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

Shireen smiled as Rickon landed in the pool with what might be the biggest splash she'd ever seen. Everyone standing near the water was soaked and as he pulled himself out and shook the leftover water from his curls, the spray continued to fly as more people were pushed into the pool.

She paused for a moment, as spurts of blood tinted the water red. And she could Edric covered in blood, panting like a madman as three people circled around him. And Uncle Renly and Loras fighting people off from all directions to keep them away from a slightly battered Mya.

Shireen wheedled the knife around in her palm.  _I could help them,_ she thought,  _I could charge over there right now and start swinging. I could get in a few good hits before someone started swinging back._ _That's what they would do._ She sighed, because they were stronger and larger and for them that plan would succeed. She needed to be crafty, she need a long term solution. So she turned the knife around and stuck it back in her pocket, feeling a pang of guilt as Loras Tyrell took another hit to his lovely face and Renly attacked a man twice his size.

She kept going, down to the garden and the path leading up to the guesthouse. It was quieter down here, and desolate. Now she pulled Needle from her pocket and flipped it open. The door was locked, breaking a window might draw some attention to her and the key, which was in Sansa's possession, was also nowhere to be found. But she a thing or two about another way to get it open.

She was rusty and she'd never worked with a knife before, but she tried to feel her way through the lock with the blade. After endless minutes of trying, she was able to break it open. She pushed her hair off her face and looked around the dimly lit room.

"Alright where are you?" She said to herself, searching the floor for a sign of fur.

"I'm here." A voice replied meekly.

Shireen looked around for the source of the voice. She found the light switch and flicked it on. Sansa lay in the corner, surrounded by the Stark direwolves, at her feet were piles of books and clothes and papers splattered around her in a circle.

"I think I've figured it all out." She said shakily.

"What?" Shireen asked.

"All of it." She repeated.

"Okay..." Shireen walked carefully towards Sansa, unsure of what would come next.

There was a loud banging outside that drew both girls, and six wolves' attention to the doorway. The wolves began to growl angrily.

"Arya's out there somewhere, isn't she?" Sansa asked.

"Yes." Shireen answered, cringing at a cry of pain that could be heard over the screams, "All hell has kind of broken lose out there."

"And what are you planning on doing about it?" Sansa asked. Little Shireen Baratheon, so much like the young Sansa Stark, who did nothing, and this grown up version, sitting on the ground in the dark while the other's fought their wars. She looked up at Shireen, "What are  _we_ gonna do about it?" She asked.

Sansa knew now where her sister had disappeared to, and why she'd come back, and all the work she'd done in between. Arya was such an angry little girl growing up, and after an hour of reading her notes, Sansa felt the same warm rage in the pit of her stomach.

"Well, I did have one idea." She said.

They looked down at the chains around the wolves' necks.

"I think I'm going to like it." Sansa said.

* * *

Gendry looked around and he could've sworn they were losing. He'd lost track of Arya. Across the crowd he could see the others; Edric's nose was broken and so bloody that his whole front was dyed red and Jon and Robb were so busy trying to save Theon from Ramsay's grip that they hardly noticed the two large guys coming up behind them with broken bottles in their hands. He

"Where's Arya?" He asked, gripping Bran's sleeve. He turned around, fixed his eyes on Gendry, and winced,

"You look like shit." He said.

"Thanks. You look good too." Gendry shot back. There was a long cut running above Bran's eyebrow and a bruise surfacing along his jaw. Behind him stood Meera, who had a cut oozing blood on her bottom lip.

"Your, um, your eye." Bran said. Gendry lifted his hand to his swollen left eye and found red swimming around in his blurred vision. His bottom eyelid was cut and left crusty blood staining his cheek.

"Fucking Boltons." He muttered before turning back to Bran. "Have you seen Arya?" He asked again.

Bran shook his head, "After Rickon cannonballed into the pool and all this shit  _really_ started, I saw her take off towards the forest. Haven't seen her since." Gendry curse under his breath. "What?" Bran asked, "You don't think she..."

"What? Waited until things got as bad as they could before completely skipping out? Sure, she's never done that before." He said.

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you." Bran said, hissing in pain as Meera tried dab at the blood on his forehead. He smiled a conciliatory smile and let her continue her work.

"She wouldn't leave." Gendry said, "Not again."

"Well, then you shouldn't have any trouble finding her." Bran said, turning his attentions back to Meera and the cut along her shoulder.

"And yet..." Gendry said, motioning to the lack of Arya in his general vicinity.

"Just give it a few seconds." Jojen said, appearing next to them. There wasn't scratch on him. .

"What do you know?" Bran asked.

Jojen eyed them knowingly. "Usually everything." He shrugged. "Right now I know that everyone else fighting, and yet, look at your baby brother."

There eyes turned to Rickon, who stood still, balancing on the tall speakers as the fighting continued beneath him.

Gendry squinted through his bad eye, "Why is he grinning like that?"

* * *

"How do you know how to do this?" Sansa asked, watching as Shireen wrestled with the lock that kept the chains in their place.

"My father is a very secretive man. He likes locks and keeping things in them." She said. "I've gotten pretty good and working around them these last few years. Especially the last few days, it seems."

The lock clicked open and Shireen smile triumphantly.

"So we each take three wolves?" She asked Sansa. She approached them warily where they lay in their corner of the room.

"Can you handle three wolves at once?" Sansa asked, she held the chains for Lady and Grey Wind in her hands and was struggling to wrangle Summer into place as well. They seemed to be as restless as their masters tonight.

"I don't know if I can even handle one." Shireen said. At her feet, one was sniffing around her ankles and rubbing it's fur against her bare legs as it walked around her.

"He seems to like you." Sansa laughed. Shireen leaned down and patted his fur, the wolf lifted his nose up to her wrist and sniffed happily. "That's Shaggydog, Rickon's wolf."

"Of course it is." Shireen said.

"He'll be a handful." Sansa said, "Maybe I should take him?"

"Then which one should I take?" Shireen asked.

"I could take a couple off your hands." Both girls turned and found someone else standing in the doorway.

Arya smiled at the broken lock on the door, "I see you've put my knife to good use."

Shireen smiled and stuttered a unintelligible response before shifting her eyes to Sansa.

Sansa let the chains fall from her hands. The direwolves went running to Arya's side and she leaned down and patted their fur lovingly before straightening up and smiling at her sister.

"Hey, Sansa." Arya said.

"I-" Was all the older Stark could manage.

Shireen stood in the middle of the two sisters, they were at opposite ends of the room, speaking in short, half sentences.

"I'm home." She said.

"I figured that out." Sansa said. She gestured down to the papers covering the carpet. "I figured it all out."

Arya looked down at them and her lip quivered. She rushed to Sansa, grabbing her arms and holding on for dear life. "Once I found out what he was doing I had to finish what he started. And I did, I got it all. And once I found out what the Lannister were doing, what Joffrey did to you, I had to try and fix that too. I did my best, and it wasn't enough and I failed you and I'm so, so sorry Sansa. I'm so sorry."

Arya cried and rested her head on Sansa's shoulder. The older Stark girl patted her her on the shoulder as her eyes, miraculously dry, stayed trained on the floor. "You did good, Arya, you did so good."

"It wasn't enough." She sobbed. "I couldn't bring him back, I couldn't bring them back, I couldn't save you." She was crying furiously.

"There was nothing either of us could've done." Sansa lamented, still holding her sister up. "We were so young. I was so foolish..."

"After I finished I still couldn't come back. All I could think was how I'd failed you and I couldn't bear to look you in the eye. I'm so sorry Sansa."

"Arya," Sansa said, holding her sister at arms length and doing her best to smile, "Look at me, I'm fine. I'm great! I did that, and you helped! We both made it back here where we belong, let's be glad for it."

Shireen watched, utterly confused, as Arya nodded and wiped her tears with the back of her hand like a small child, "Yes. Good." She sniffled and suddenly she was the strong, tough Arya Shireen had always imagined. "So what's this plan?"

Sansa smiled and handed her sister two chains. But Arya shook her head.

"I've got one small change to make." She said, smiling down at her hands.

* * *

Rickon smiled and looked over the party. There was blood, bodies and spilled beer everywhere. His brothers were still standing and Joffrey, surrounded by his loyal lackeys, was too. But that was about to change.

He could feel his blood pumping with adrenaline. After landing in the pool he'd found Robb and Ramsay Snow beating the shit out of each other. Eager to get into the fight he'd all but picked his brother up and moved him out of the way in order to slam his fist into Ramsay's face. He'd taken on countless others after leaving Ramsay floating in the pool, and now he was standing victorious, waiting for the cavalry to come.

There was a tug on his ankle and he kicked reflexively, the heel of his boot connecting with skin and bone.

"Fucking hells, Rickon!" Gendry's muffled voice shouted as he rubbed his jaw.

"Sorry." Rickon laughed.

"What are you smiling at?" Gendry asked.

"Come take a look." He said. Gendry fought off a few bystanders before he climbed up next to him. Bran, Meer and Jojen continued to fight and catch of glimpse of what the other two were looking at. Momentarily, Gendry's eyes landed on the balcony, where people were crammed against he railing and pointing towards the property's edge.

He turned around and saw the cause of the commotion. Several of the fights near the garden had hit a standstill, as everyone paused to look at the girls emerging from the guesthouse.

He could see Sansa with Grey Wind and Lady at her heels, Shireen walking tall with Summer and Shaggydog at her sides, and Arya leading them both with Nymeria and Ghost growling in front of her.

The crowd parted for them, their eyes wide and their jaws dropped in fear. The wolves ran ahead, growling and eager for a hunt and the girls followed behind, more patient than their pets for the slaughter that was coming.

"You just never fucking learn, do you?" Arya hissed as they approached Joffrey.

The Lannister boy had to suppress his nervous shaking at the sight of the six Stark direwolves and it made Arya feel powerful to know they were at her command. She scratched Nymeria behind her ear and felt her whimper happily from the touch but when her hand pulled away the wolf returned to her snarling, her teeth barred towards the trespassers.

"Last year, you walked around here, acting like you owned the place, calling yourself Robert Baratheon's son and I told you that you weren't. And didn't I prove you wrong? Or do you need a reminder?" She asked. "I wasn't exactly subtle with my discoveries. Everyone here has read the articles! Everyone's seen the proof!" She shouted, her voice echoed into the air above the silent crowd. The wolves howled their response.

"So you think you would've taken me seriously when I told you to stay away from my sister. And yet, it took her another two months to get away from you. And three to get home. You think you might've taken me even more seriously when I destroyed your family's reputation, your business, your social respectability, and the name you all lied so hard to hold onto." Joffrey moved his foot an inch but stopped as Ghost and Nymeria began circling him where he stood.

"And yet," Arya growled, "here you are, acting as if hiding behind another family makes you strong again." Joffrey opened his mouth to speak but the wolf's bark cut him off.

"The important thing was that you stayed away from my sister, my home, my family. That's what I cared about. But you didn't listen. This is your last warning, let's hope third time's the charm." She turned to Shireen, "Anything to add?"

Shireen crossed her arms and shook her head, "I said everything I needed to say earlier, unless you need me to freshen your memories?"

Lancel glared at her and mutter something under his breath, but he stopped as Shaggydog circled around Shireen, ready to charge.

"Shaggy, no." Shireen whispered and the wolf stilled. She smiled triumphantly and her eyes landed on Rickon who looked impressed and slightly mystified.

"Sansa?" Arya asked. "Anything you'd like to say?"

Joffrey scoffed and when he turned back to the Lannisters they began to laugh.

Slowly, Sansa walked forward, each step more certain than the last. Once she was mere inches from Joffrey, her eyes wavered and fell to the ground.

"Is there something you'd like to say to me?" Joffrey challenged, his jaw set rigidly in its place.

She said nothing and kept her eyes trained on his mouth, her fingers flexed at the thought of how much she wanted to punch him. He sniggered as she stayed silent. Then her eyes lifted to his, piercing blue meeting sinister green.

"You never should've come to the North." She said. She spoke hardly above a whisper, and Joffrey taunted her by holding his hand up to his ear,

"Speak up you worthless piece of-" He never got to finish his sentence. Sansa smacked his arm away with one hand, the other grabbed the collar of his shirt and she shoved him to the ground. She stared down at him, the small boy she'd thought was her first love. As she towered over him he still looked like that same boy, only now she laughed at the thought of him, the petty, spoiled little boy she'd always known.

"It's time for you to leave and never come back." She said firmly. "They'll show you out." Sansa stood and returned to Arya's side.

A look of confusion set in on Joffrey's face but as the direwolves growling increased and their paws padded towards him, recognition slowly replaced it.

"Would you like to do the honours?" Arya asked.

"Don't mind if I do." Sansa smiled. Joffrey flailed before finally arriving to his feet with the help of his frightened cousins. With a small wave of her fingers the wolves snarling increase, and then they charged.

Nymeria reached them first, sinking her teeth into Joffrey's leg and pinning him in place for the others to pile on. They heard him scream, all high pitched and sad, but they did nothing to stop it. The other Lannisters were unharmed, and stood by mouths agape until Joffrey was able to form the words that commanded them to help. Hesistantly they tried to intervene. And then the direwolves were everywhere. And the whole thing was a flurry of blonde hair and fur and blood. The Lannisters picked up their fallen cousin and together they managed to hobble away in a pathetic attempt to flee.

The wolves snarled as they left, waiting for a decent distance, just enough to let them think they were safe. Then they took off, eager for the hunt, chasing anyone caught on the wrong side of the brawl up the side of the house and down into the front yard, sending howls and screams into the night.

Those sounds filled the air as everyone nearby watched, mystified.

A moment later the music started up again, louder than it had ever been, to drown out the rest of the night. And to celebrate. Everyone was riled up and excited both from the fight and the Lannister's final exit.

Except the Starks... they had more important matters to attend to.

The six of them, finally reunited, stayed in the middle of the backyard, under the moon and while the party consumed everyone else. They enveloped each other in endless embraces. Arya and Sansa, now inseparable, stood at the centre of the group, surrounded by brothers shouting questions filled with anger and love, around them the Baratheons and the Reeds stood, waiting for their turn.

They stayed there for so long, shouting incomprehensible sentences at each other "I'll explain everything if you would just let me breathe." "No I had no idea either. I know I'm sorry, but you have to admit..." "WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GO THAT DIDN'T HAVE A WORKING TELEPHONE?" "I knew the whole time, all of it. I knew everything." "CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?"

Mya weaseled her way over to Sansa's side eventually, "Where'd you go? I was so worried about you. I was looking everywhere!" She pulled the girl into a hug.

"I was worried about me too." She said. "But I'm okay now."

"Looks to me like you're more than okay." Mya laughed. "That was incredible!"

"It was Shireen's idea, she was the one who found me." Sansa said.

Mya grinned and turned to her little cousin, picked her up and twirled her around before placing her back down and allowing Sansa to give her an equally appreciative hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were back?" Jon shouted into Arya's ear.

She glanced nervously at him. "I wasn't ready yet. I was... afraid. I couldn't even go in the house until Gendry dragged me inside tonight."

"I don't mean tonight." Jon said. Arya looked away guiltily, "You should've told me, I deserved more than one letter." He said, not letting her squirm away from his view. He put a hand on her shoulder, as if to hold her in place, and watched her as she wrung her hands around each other anxiously.

"I know you did. It's just... After the news got out I thought you wouldn't want to look at me let alone speak to me. I couldn't have handled that."

"You wouldn't have had to." Jon said. "Gods, Arya, do honestly think I would've done that to you?" Her big eyes looked up at him as he pulled her into a hug. "I just wanted you home. You're my little sister, none of that other shit matter. I was fucking worried."

Arya smiled up at him, and stood on the tips of her toes to hug him again.

"I suppose I'll have to wait til later to get the full story won't I?" he said with a sigh.

"Why's that?" She asked. He placed her back on the ground and pointed over her shoulder. She turned and saw Gendry watching her, his face made of stone.

"I'll still kick his ass." Jon said.

Arya laughed, "I can do that myself now."

Jon smiled, "I know. But I'll be there to help." He patted her shoulder and she smiled at him before he was attacked by a wisp of red hair. She smiled for moment as he was attacked by harsh kisses and then she turned away.

She took a deep breath and walked over to him. "I guess I've got some explaining to do, huh?"

Gendry reached down for her hand without saying a word, and led her into the house. Arya bit her lip and took once last look at the party. Jon was busy now with Ygritte. Talisa was cleaning up Robb's wounds while he continued talking to Sansa, then he reached out to pull his sister into a hug. Mya and Edric were talking to Bran and Meera, comparing battle scars. Then the door closed behind her and they were gone.

The house was practically empty. The only people who weren't outside were the ones so comatose they'd slept through the whole thing. Gendry walked past all of them and stayed silent until they were in her old room.

The purple walls, the fencing posters, the books on direwolves, it all came flooding back to her. She sat on the bed while Gendry perched himself on the windowsill, he stared out at the front lawn for a moment, filled with passed out partygoers and a few staggering people, still running for fear of wolves. Then he turned back to Arya, his arms crossed, his expression stoic.

"Talk."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Alright folks, this is the second last chapter! Finally, time for some answers. Hope you all enjoy...**

* * *

The wolves returned, striking fear in the hearts of a few people nearby. Shireen didn't understand why, the only ones they wanted to harm were long gone.

They padded slinkily over to the guest house and spread out in the garden, basking in the moon's glow and she joined them, laying out on the dewy green grass. She rested her head on Shaggy's fur and soon enough, felt someone lie next to her.

"I don't think we should chain them up again." She said, staring up at the stars.

"Nah, I think they'll be fine for the rest of the night."

"Morning." Shireen corrected, she grabbed Rickon's wrist and pointed to his watch. "It's almost four."

Rickon grabbed her hand and traced the blue bruises. Shaggydog sat up suddenly and reached his head around to lick the wounds lying under her skin, making her giggle.

"Someone's sure taken a liking to you." Rickon said, shooting his pet a look of disapproval.

"Yep, he's already wrapped around my finger." Shireen smile proudly.

"It would seem so." he said tiredly.

"Hey, Rickon?" She said, turning her head towards him.

"Yeah?" He replied, looking at her.

"Thanks for tonight."

Rickon shrugged, "We didn't even do anything. It was all you."

"That's true." Shireen smiled. "You were pretty useless." He laughed.

"I'm actually excited to go back home," She said happily.

"Really?" Rickon asked.

"Yeah," She said. "There's so much more to do now. I survived a trip to the North. Look at me, I'm still in one piece, that ought to surprise my parents. And I think it's time I started travelling around the South. I could drag Edric up and down the coast. Or maybe go East..."

"Do not go East." Rickon interrupted. "You'll never come back."

"What... are you worried about me?" She joked.

Rickon looked away from her. "Baby steps.." He said finally, "That's all I'm saying."

"Screw baby steps." Shireen decided. "I'm going to go... everywhere. Maybe I'll head up to the Wall."

Rickon nodded, "You know, it's awfully cold up there."

She smiled at his little hints, "Well, I'll having Shaggydog to keep me warm."

"You're so sure he'd go with you?" Rickon asked.

"Absolutely." Shireen said.

"No way." Rickon said.

"Wanna bet?"

Shireen got up and walked to the other side of the garden, Rickon did the same, sitting at the opposite end. They stared at each other in silence for a minute until finally Shireen waved expectantly,

"Go on." She said.

"Shaggy, here boy." Rickon called, followed by whistles and waves that beckoned the wolf closer. Shaggy lifted his head and stood, then turned in a circle before laying back down on the grass.

"Shaggydog." Shireen sing-songed sweetly. The wolf's head perked up and in the still dark sky his yellow eyes still had a glow in them. "Here Shaggy." She patted the ground in front of her gently and the wolf's body rose with each thump. When he stood in front of her he nuzzled lovingly against into her neck before lying down happily in her lap. She looked at Rickon and smirked.

He stood and walked over to Shireen and the wolf.

"Traitor." He muttered down at Shaggydog, who turned away to hide behind Shireen.

"See?" She said. "I'll be perfectly fine up at the Wall."

Rickon sat crossed legged in front of her, plucking up blades of grass from the patch between them. "You'll need a guide."

"I'll guess I'll have to make a friend or two then." She teased. "Maybe I'll meet a Crow, or a nice Wildling."

She stretched her legs out and let her head rest comfortably against Shaggy's fur. Rickon lay down next to her.

"Sure you could do that." He said dismissively, then grumbled "I lived up North, you know."

Shireen rolled her eyes and laughed. She sat up suddenly and rested a hand on Rickon's chest before leaning in and placing a quick kiss on his lips. Her soft black curls fell over his face, like a curtain keeping them hidden from the world.

She smiled down at him before laying back down on Shaggy's soft coat.

"I knew you were going to do that." He said smugly, staring at her while she stared at the stars.

"Oh who cares anyway?" Shireen decided. "The important thing is that I did it." She squirmed closer, resting her head on his shoulder. "And I'll do it again too."

"What a threat." Rickon joked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

She smiled happily up at the stars.

* * *

Sansa smiled. She was crammed in between Mya and Robb, both had their arms around her.

People were celebrating. Half of them probably had no idea what they were so happy about, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was her family by her side, although Arya had already gone missing, hand in hand with Gendry. Sansa had a feeling they'd be doing more than just catching up. What mattered even more was that she felt happpy, and safe, and strong, and that was something she hadn't felt in years.

She smiled to herself, and let her hand drop from Mya's. When she turned back to the pool she noticed how the party had been reinvigorated; people were no longer lounging on the pools chairs but bouncing on them, and jumping in the water and splashing around. Some were showing off their battle scars and cleaning out wounds while drinking more to numb the pain. Loras and Renly were loading a new keg into place while people stood by eagerly. Edric offered to help and when the whole thing started spraying like a rampant fire hydrant they just danced in it. Mya laughed and ran to join her brother, while Robb leaned away to shield Talisa from the spray.

Beyond that, near the door, waiting patiently to catch Sansa's eye, was Margaery. She offered a concilliatory smile and wave, which Sansa did not return, before making hasty, cautious steps towards her old friend.

"How are you feeling?" Margaery yelled in Sansa's ear. The girl shot a look to her beer soaked brother and his boyfriend as they shouted happily up at the sky.

"Pretty damn good." Sansa said. She crossed her arms and glared at Margaery, but the girl was determined, she stood her ground with a smile on her face.

"I'm proud of you." She said.

"An hour ago you wanted nothing to do with me." Sansa said.

"No, please, keep smiling. You should smile more often." Margaery reached up and brushed a lock of hair from Sansa's face before planting a kiss on her cheek. "I have a plan, Sansa. I always have a plan." The girl whispered. Then she pulled away and looked at Sansa. "Don't you trust me?"

Margaery smiled her clever little smile, but for once Sansa didn't feel herself melt at the sight of it.

"I don't." She said. Sansa turned and walked away, back to the middle of the crowd, where her  _real_  family, Robb, and Bran, and Jon, and Mya were waiting for her. Later Rickon would magically reappear as he always did, and Arya would be back with Gendry in tow, no doubt. Sansa had her sister again, her true sister.

She turned around for once last glance, vowing to never look back again, and found Margaery Tyrell standing alone with tears falling slowly down her face. Her eyes were set far away, like she was lost in a dream, and when she came back to herself she wiped her tears away furiously and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. No one had. Then she disappeared back into the house and Sansa returned happily to her celebrations.

* * *

"Where should I start?" Arya gulped nervously.

Gendry shrugged, "The day you left. Start with the day you completely disappeared from my life and don't stop until you reach tonight."

"Am I allowed to take breaths in between sentences?" Arya joked. Gendry didn't laugh. "Fine. The day I left the Brotherhood I ran North. I knew Robb and my mother were nearby, I figured if everyone... if you were going to abandon me, I could find them on my own. I was doing pretty well too, I would've made it, but I ran into the Hound."

"Sandor Clegane?" He asked.

"Yeah, you know the big burly guy with the scar on his face? He used to work for the Lannisters before he ran into the Brotherhood."

"And then they let him go."

"And he waited around for me. He brought me to the Twins to bring me to my mother."

"Why?" Gendry asked.

"Out of the goodness of his heart." Arya deadpanned. "Why do you think? He expected some kind of reward. Plus, he had information on Sansa. I found that out later."

"So what happened?" He heard himself ask.

"You know what happened." She said. "I still don't want to talk about that. I can't talk about that."

"Okay." Gendry said, finally sounding like her friend. "So, then what happened?"

"I'm getting there!" She snapped. Her eyes quickly looked away from him, then she kept talking. "He decided to take me to my aunt instead, I wanted to go to the Wall to be with Jon but he wouldn't go there. No possibility of reward from the Crows, you know?" She laughed humourlessly "It's funny actually, if I'd gone to my aunt's I would've found Sansa, and Mya."

"So if you didn't go there, where  _did_ you go?" He asked.

She shrugged, "I got away from him eventually. After hearing everything, the news about what happened at the Twins, what was happening with Robb and the business, the trouble in the North, and with the Crows at the Wall, and the rumours about Sansa in the South. So I found Jaqen and went East to Braavos, to the Academy, and I learned everything."

"What's everything?"

"A bunch of stuff you don't want to know about." She said. "Besides, you couldn't pay me to tell you, not for all the supposed gold in Casterly Rock."

"Why not?" He asked.

Arya bit her lip nervously and looked down at the floor, "It's stupid." She muttered.

"So is this conversation, but we're having it." He joked.

"Yeah, but I don't want you to hate me by the end of this conversation," She could feel her face turning red as she spoke, "So I'm not telling you what I did at that school."

"I don't hate you." He said.

"That's because I haven't finished yet." She said, looking down at her hands. "I know what you heard out there, you've probably pieced together most of this by yourself, I'm not going to pile on by telling you all the other horrible things I've done."

Gendry nodded solemnly, "Okay. So... you're final project?"

"Yeah." She said, getting back on track. "I'd tried to put everything out of my mind. You know, the whole 'I'm going to forget everyone and everything that I've lost and that's left me and then I'll be just fine' thing?"

"Yes."

"Well, it didn't work. So, I changed my plan."

"How?"

"I remembered everything." She said. "I thought about my family, and wondered where they might be, what they were doing, whether they remembered me or still cared. Then I started thinking about my father, and the last time I saw him, the last time we talked, and how he died. I thought about our time living in King's and how he was working so hard and he had all these files and books surrounding him all the time and how he kept warning Sansa about Joffrey. And I started wondering why. Once I got ahold of them, I started digging through my father's old files, but I didn't stay as secret as I would've hoped. In the end, I ended up learning  _a lot_ more than I bargained for."

Gendry's head poked up. "So when Jon found out..." He began.

"That was a mistake." She said. "Kind of."

"How did it happen?" He asked.

She took a deep breath and continued on, "A boy I met over in the East. When I went to King's we kept in contact and he provided me with the necessary information."

"What kind of information?" He asked.

She shrugged, "Diaries, files, first person accounts and interviews. Aunt Lyanna was Jon's mother. It's a fact."

"I've seen the proof. Everyone's read the articles."

"I didn't plan that." She said quickly. "For everyone to know. I didn't mean for it to happen."

"How  _did_ it happen?" Gendry asked.

"There's this guy, in King's, called the Spider. He knows everything, literally everything. I still don't even know how he found out." Arya looked up at him finally, her eyes clear and worried, "How upset was he?"

"He was pissed." Gendry spoke truly. He remembered the day Jon had found out. It was the same day everyone else had. "It got him dumped, you know, although I guess tonight fixed that at some point. It changed things for him, here and at work. Most of it was for the better, but it took him a long time to realize that. He was so pissed. But now. he's made his peace with it."

"Good." Arya nodded, "That's good."

Silence descended over them. Gendry could heard chanting and screaming coming in from the backyard through the window.

"Who was the boy?" He asked.

"What boy?"

"The one who... he gave you the information about Jon's mother and-"

"He was just a boy, also hiding out. A Targaryen." Her eyes glazed over again and a smile crept onto her face, "Very handsome."

"Let's move on." Gendry said. Arya snickered. "What happened next?"

"Next, the party." She said.

"Right. Last year. Why?"

"Sansa." She stated. "It was all for her. I'd heard... I'd thought. I never knew we got separated in King's Landing. I thought she stayed behind... with them. I hated her for it. I thought my parents were dead, and that Robb and Jon had forgotten me, and that Bran and Rickon were also forgotten, or lost, or in hiding, or most likely dead. And the worst of it was that my sister had abandoned our family. I thought she left us for  _them,_ for the Lannisters, for the people who killed... actually that's not the worst part. The worst part is that I believed it so easily. I thought she turned on us and so I turned on her."

Arya swallowed loudly, fighting tears, "So, last year's party. I didn't intended to come. All the mess with Jon had just come out and I was trying to clean it up and continue my original work. I sent the letter to Jon, after the news came out and I felt bad, and I was just going to leave it at that. The promise that I was okay and would be home eventually. Then I ran into the Hound again, and the Spider, and I started snooping through Lannister's personal records and the first thing I uncovered was what they'd done to Sansa during the three years I spent wrongly hating her. I-" Her fingers were shaking as she attempted to crunch them into fists. "I just knew I had to fix it." She whispered. "So I came home, sooner than I would've liked. I knew I couldn't stay long, I wasn't done my project. There was... more to do. I smuggled myself in and stayed hidden, and then Rickon found me and helped me hide out. As you know, I found some very interesting information during my visit." She said, thinking of Gendry and Jeyne.

"And then you beat the shit out of Joffrey." He finished.

"Gods, I have to say when he said his bit about being Robert Baratheon's son my brain nearly exploded." She laughed, "I didn't have enough proof then, and I wasn't in any position to bring it up, but it made the next month just that much sweeter."

She sighed, "I went back to King's Landing, kept working, followed sources. I was continuing my father's work, it's what got him in so much trouble back when he was working for the Baratheon Company. He knew something was wrong, so he went digging, and the Lannisters didn't like that. He found Joffrey's  _real_ father. It wasn't Robert Baratheon, one look at  _you_  now and that's plain as day. Joffrey is your polar opposite. But my dad didn't stop there, he figured out who his father was as well."

"Jaime Lannister." Gendry said.

"I stayed around long enough to see Joffrey's face, and to watch their pathetic lives fall to pieces, then I made my way home."

"Very slowly." he said.

"Yes..." She said. "I was afraid." He kept staring at her. "See, this is the part that makes me nervous." She said. "This is the part where I hope you'll still like me once I'm done talking."

Gendry nodded, "Let's find out."

"When I found out about Joffrey, other questions came out of the woodwork. Robert Baratheon wasn't exactly a... modest man. He was known for not being... loyal to his wife. He had kids out there somewhere. Someone just had to find out who."

"And you took that on yourself?" Gendry asked.

"Well, naturally I thought of you. You got fired from Mott's shop so suddenly, you got evicted and you didn't know why. Didn't you ever wonder why everyone turned on you so quickly? I know you did. And so did I. Then I remembered that you met my father one time. He came look for you. Now why would a man looking to disprove Joffrey Baratheon's illegitimacy come to a random mechanic in the back alley streets of King's Landing? It wasn't a hard line to draw."

Gendry nodded, "I see." was all he managed.

"Finding Mya and Edric was harder but I knew there had to be others. I knew there was someone in the Vale, there were notes on it keeping track of her, not that she knew it, but by the time I got over there to confirm it, she was long gone with Sansa. As for Edric, Stannis Baratheon is a very serious man. If he wants a secret kept it stays hidden."

"So how'd you find out?"

"I didn't. I mean, I had a hunch. He announced it himself not soon after."

"Hmm."

"So it was me. It was all me. All the scandals, the life ruining secrets, the royal sized fuck ups, I'm behind it all." Arya stared at him. "Do you hate me for it?" She asked quietly.

Gendry ran his hands over his face and through his hair, suddenly exhaustion was hitting him and all he wanted was to go home and sleep. He sat next to Arya on the bed.

"I think you know I don't." He said.

"You deserve to." She said.

He nodded, "I do. You ran. You hid. I thought you were dead. You told everyone secrets I didn't even know I had." He sighed again, "But you gave me a family, and you came back." He shrugged and smiled, "So it all evens out, don't you think?"

Arya laughed despite her self and that made him feel good.

Then she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder, and for a moment he tensed, though he would always tense at her touch. Then she spoke quietly.

"You know my aunt and your father had a thing going." She said.

"Really?" He said, but he did know. He'd learned a lot about Robert Baratheon since the truth had come out, but he wanted to hear about it from her.

"Yeah. He was going to ask her to marry him before she ran away with Jon's father. They'd known each other for years, since your dad was friends with mine. I think he really loved her."

"Aren't you supposed to be the spitting image of your Aunt Lyanna?" He felt her nod.

"My dad always said I was exactly like her."

"Sounds like a bit of repeating history, to me."

"But you're nothing like him." She raised her head up from his shoulder and smiled. "You're not a drunk, or a cheater, or an angry blithering idiot. You look like him, nothing more." She stood and looked down at him. "Play your cards right and I just might not leave you for that Targaryen."

He put his hands on her hips and she wiggled closer, "You think I'm letting you leave again?" He said.

She smiled softly and leaned down to kiss him. He kept pulling her closer until she was falling onto the bed. Her breath was pushed out of her as she landed on top of him and for a moment she pulled back, the smile still on her face, "I'm not going anywhere." She whispered.

He flipped them over as her hands ran up through his hair. "I'm not leaving, I promise." She repeated. His hands founds hers and held them above her head. "I'm not going to run away again."

"I know." He said as he kissed his way down her neck. "You're not going anywhere tonight."

He lips traced their way down her neck, along the edge of her bra, down her stomach, only to feel Arya's hands pulling him back up to her lips.

"I missed you." Arya said breathlessly.

Gendry stared into her grey eyes and replied, "I missed you too."

She forced her lips back to his and grabbed at his hair with her fingers. Gendry was fighting just to keep her there, in his arms, but just as quickly as she'd begun to kiss him she pulled back.

"I'm sorry I took off." She said, her lips barely parted from his.

"I'm sorry I didn't drag you back." He said.

"I should've stayed." She cried.

"Well, I should've followed." He said, his voice low and guttural.

Arya gulped, "So how do we...?"

"I think we just have to move on from the past." He said. "Can you do that? After all this time? Not forgetting just... letting go?"

She stopped and truly considered it, pulling away from Gendry completely so that her profile shone in the moonlight. Could she leave behind all her anger from the past few years, everything from her father's death to her sister's abuse, and move on? Everything she'd planned for and everything she'd give up to get here.

She's done all she'd set out to do. The Lannisters were in ruins, her sister was home, the Baratheons were reinstated as a powerful family in Westeros, as were the Starks. She had nothing left to do, all she had left was her anger. On any given day she could always rely on that feeling bubbling deep in her core, spurring her on, but today was not one of those days.

"I could." She stated simply.

"Really?" Gendry asked, sounding surprised.

"I could," She repeated, "For you." She nodded her head towards the backyard, "For them."

Her fingers plucked helplessly at the tattered comforter they were lying on. "Can you?"

"I could." He echoed. "For them and for you."

"Good." He said.

"Yeah," Arya laugh lightly. "It is. I feel good."

Gendry leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"Mmm," She smiled, "Now I feel better."

He leaned in again and kissed her cheek. "Now?"

"Better." She smiled.

He kissed her lips. "Better?"

"Much better." She said, lacing her hands in his hair and pulling him closer.

* * *

The party was officially over. It was five in the morning the sky was the clearest dark blue. Everyone left in the house or out on the lawn was passed out, either drunk or already hungover. Most of the Starks had managed to make it to their respective rooms wrapped in the arms of their significant others. Some had yet to make it there.

"I'm cold," Shireen said, her fingers slid against Rickon's as they both scratched Shaggydog's fur. "We should go inside."

They stood up and Shaggy followed as they moved out of the garden towards the house. As Rickon shut the gate behind them, Shireen stared out at the backyard.

"This place looks like a war zone." She said.

Rickon laughed "It's actually worse than last year."

Shireen yawned and smiled as Shaggy nipped her her heels. Rickon wound his hand through hers and together they walked up the grass, past the countless sleeping bodies, the smashed bottles and empty red cups into the house.

* * *

Sansa couldn't go to sleep. Mya had passed out in her bed hours ago. Her brothers and sister were all asleep, in the arms of whoever they loved, tucked away in their beds, and although she'd felt elated earlier, now with everyone else sleeping happily with someone they loved, or wrapped up in the arms of their friends, all she felt was alone.

She felt so terribly lonely and confused and all she wanted was someone to call her own but the thought of letting someone in, of trusting someone, it only made tears well in her eyes.

With her knees tucked up to her chest and Mya snoring softly next to her, Sansa willed those tears away and stood up and got ready for the day. The sun was coming in through the windows and blinding her eyes but it also felt warm on her skin. She tiptoed down to the living room and out to the garage and found a box of garbage bags.

As the garage door peeled opened and let the sunshine in, she stood alone at the top of the hill, took a deep breath, and went to work.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Okay, here it is *tear* the last chapter. I hope you enjoys it! Once again, thank you all so much for reading, especially for taking th e time to review and favourite, after all the time and rewrites I put it into this it really means a lot!**

**Okay, Enjoy!**

* * *

Gendry woke up with Arya wrapped around him. Her head was on his chest and his arm was holding her close to him, their legs were intertwined.

Slowly he pulled his arm back and tried to free his legs from hers. She started to shift away and he quickly slid out of the bed as she rolled closer, stretching out and taking up the entirety of the mattress. He smirked at her, watching her squirm and get comfortable as he backed away and stubbed his foot on the nightstand.

"Fucking, shit, fucker." He cursed as he hopped on the spot.

"Stupid Bull." Arya mumbled with a smile, turning over and going back to sleep.

He walked down the hall to the bathroom and found himself smirking at his reflection. He'd woken up happy. And when he came out he glanced through the other doorways. Mya was sprawled out on Sansa's bed with Meera and Bran resting on the air mattress on her floor. Robb and Jeyne were lying in each other's arms on top of his bed. In the next room he could spot Ygritte's bright red hair spilling over Jon's face. Next he came to Rickon's room.

Gendry stood in the doorway and looked at a sleeping Rickon Stark stretched out along his bed with a smile on his lips and his direwolf supporting his head on his thick fur. And tucked in between the two of them, was Gendry's little cousin.

It looked innocent enough. Shireen was still wearing his shirt, but he knew the explanation behind that one. She was under the covers while Rickon lay on top, covered by a blanket he'd outgrown long ago.

He knew nothing was wrong with the situation, and yet... His casual glance turned into a grimace, his jaw was tight and rigid, his eyes narrowed. Shaggydog opened his eyes and let out a low growl at the sight of Gendry which caused Rickon to shift on the bed and tuck his arms up into the direwolf's fur. Shireen wiggled closer to him.

"Hey." A sleepy voice called from behind him. He turned around and found Arya, wrapped up in her old purple comforter. She rubbed her eyes and dragged her feet over to him. "Why are you watching my brother sleeping?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed the back of his neck, the only place she could reach from the tips of her toes. She looked through the doorway and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, now I see."

She stood next to him and leaned against the open doorway, "I think it's good." She said, smiling at the two kids and the direwolf.

"Well I don't." Gendry mumbled.

"What?" She asked.

"I don't think I like this at all." He said.

"Why?" Arya asked, her voice was rising.

"Look, Arry, you don't know Shireen, okay? She's fragile, she doesn't get out much, she doesn't know what she's getting herself into."

"She seemed just fine last night, punching Lancel in the face. Breaking into our guesthouse. She's even got a good hold on Shaggydog and he's tempermental at the best of times. Took you months to go near Nymeria."

"It's not just that, it's..." He said.

"It's what?" She said, shifting around to meet his eyes. He stared down at the ground guiltily, "What is it Gendry?" His face turned red with embarrassed frustration. Arya smirked, "Go on then, say it."

"She's my little cousin!" He said, too loudly. Rickon stirred a little and wrapped an arm around Shireen. Gendry groaned and Arya squealed, loving this all too much.

"Sorry what was that?" She asked.

"Oh don't make me say it again." he begged.

"No, no, one more time please." She said, closing the door slightly and pushing Gendry into the hall.

"It's different, okay? You're... you. And Shireen's..."

"Yes?" Arya smiled.

"She's my cousin, for crying out loud! My young, innocent little cousin and I don't think your brother, who was raised by Wildlings and doesn't have the greatest reputation, should be hanging around her!" He said, breathing a sigh of relief at the end of his rant.

His relief disappeared when he saw the smile on her face as she looked over his shoulder.

"Well, well, well," A voice said.

"Oh fuck," Gendry muttered as he turned around.

"How does it feel, Gen?" Jon asked as Arya wrapped her blanket clad arms around Gendry.

"Shut up." Gendry groaned as Arya reach up to kiss him.

"Nope." Jon said, shaking his head.

"You look like you had a good night." Arya said, taking in Jon's disheveled, shaggy hair and the ridiculous smile he couldn't seem to keep off his face.

"Yes I did." He said, his smile growing, "Which is why I'm going to wait another few days to deal with this whole situation." He said, gesturing vaguely at the two of them. "I suggest you do the same with him." He added, pointing to Rickon's room.

"Good morning." Ygritted said, stepping out from Jon's room in black underwear and one of his white v-neck t-shirts. When she saw the other two she hid behind Jon only to have Robb and Talisa appear behind her.

"Oh my," Talisa said, blushing and shielding her eyes. "We made tea." She said as Robb offered them a tray full of mugs. They all took one, including Bran who was moving sluggishly into the hall.

"Good morning." He grinned, noticing Ygritte's pale legs. The Wildling girl tugged furiously at Jon's shirt, glaring at him while he laughed. "My head is killing me." Bran said, rubbing his temples. The others muttered their sympathy. "Did someone let the direwolves out last night or was I actually  _that_ high?"

"That would be Arya." Jon said.

"Actually, that would be Shireen. And Sansa. I was merely an accomplice." She said proudly, "Either way they didn't seem to get locked back up after last night's little exhibition."

"How big of a mess are we dealing with downstairs?" Jon asked.

"It's pretty bad, not as bad as the time with the dragon chick though." Bran said.

"Alright, well, we'll take the morning to relax. We can worry about clean-up after breakfast."

"Really?" Arya asked.

"Well, we're going to relax." Robb said, pointing to all but her. "You're going to be doing a lot of talking and explaining and begging for forgiveness and complimenting me on my ability to control my rage. How does that plan sound to you?"

"Sounds great." She smiled.

"Sansa will want to get the house cleaned up ASAP once she wakes up." Robb reminded them as they dispersed to their rooms.

"Yeah, yeah, we know." Jon yawned.

The sounds of Arya's girlish giggling escaped from her door as it swung shut.

"And someone wake up Rickon!" Robb called as he returned to his own room.

Bran looked around the hall, alone and confused.

"What is it?" Jon asked, looking out into the hall.

"Has anyone even  _seen_ Sansa?" He asked.

* * *

Sansa was outside cleaning up the yard, like she did every year. It looked like a battle zone. Bodies strewn everywhere. But instead of limp, battered warriors fallen in battle, they were her friends. Sleeping in groups, snuggling, grumbling, waking up to hangovers and the grass' morning dew with memories of a good night making them smile.

She was dragging her fifth big black garbage bag around the grass; picking up bottles and cans and cups and napkins. She'd thrown on a large sweater, a pair of jean shorts and some long wool socks that were now muddy and gross. She felt tired all the way down to her bones, she'd wiped off the remains of last night's make-up from her face and her hair, now a matted mess of limp curls, was piled on top of her head in a long, flowing ponytail.

She'd cleaned the backyard as the sun had risen, as the direwolves roamed freely around the estate and Lady trailed behind her. And now, with the sun peaking over the tree line, she made her way to the front. It was calming, and relaxing, and strange as it would seem, she never wanted this moment to end. Where everyone was asleep and happy and she could watch over them while she cleaned, off in her own little world.

"Sansa!" Someone yelled out, breaking her calm and making her wince.

Margaery stood on the porch, waving to her.

The girl was wearing a clean new outfit, all prim and proper in a flowery summer dress. Her hair looked coiffed and impeccable with curls that fell around her shoulders and chest in perfect ringlets. As Sansa let the garbage bag go and walked to the porch she could see that the girl's make-up was still intact and she hated her for all her impossible perfection. She was holding a two mugs of tea and beckoning Sansa closer.

"I think it's time we had a talk, sweetling." She sat on the porch swing and raised her hand to her eyes to block out the sun.

"Must we?" Sansa asked.

Margaery, undeterred, only smiled. "Yes we must!" She patted the spot next to her.

Sansa rolled her eyes and sat down, tucking her feet up and cradling the mug of tea in both hands.

"I know you must think I've been terribly unfair to you." She began.

Sansa stared at her, and it seemed, for the first time, that Margaery actually responded to her hard look.

"I mean, I  _was_." She said. "Truthfully, I've wanted to call you for quite some time and talk about everything but my brother and I agreed, with all the commotion going on with the Lannisters, it was best not to pester you."

"You couldn't find five minutes to call and see how I was?" Sansa asked. "Or to apologize maybe?"

"I didn't want to apologize." Margaery said, placing her hand over top of Sansa's.

"Okay..." Sansa said, immediately pulling away.

"No," Margaery laughed, shifting closer "I just, I wanted to make it up to you instead. That's what I've been telling you all along isn't it!"

"Just how do you think you are going to do that, especially after last night?" Sansa asked.

"What if you came to Highgarden, like we always planned?"

Sansa began to protest but Margaery shushed her.

"No, no, no, please Sansa. We could walk by the river, and spend the day soaking up the sun and listening to the music in the courtyards. At night we could go out for drinks and dancing, just us girls, just us two. It would be so much fun, just as it should've been."

"No Margaery." Sansa said, surprising them both with the certainty in her voice. "It's too late.  _You're_  too late. I'm home now, with my family; I'm happy."

Margaery nodded. Her eyes landed solemnly on the ground and she bit her lip as if waiting to blurt something out. Then she shook her head and went completely still, like a corpse.

"Are you..." Sansa ventured hesitantly, "Are you happy, Margaery?"

She looked up at her, stunned to be asked the question, and Sansa wondered if anyone ever had. But then she went back into Margaery mode, sitting up straight and giving a little laugh before smiling out at the sun and turning to Sansa with a look of joy on her face.

"Of course I'm happy." She said.

"Margaery," Sansa said quietly.

"Planning a wedding is so stressful. Joffrey's mother can be impossible sometimes, but nothing I can't handle, with ease. She's more tiresome than troublesome." Margaery chuckled but Sansa couldn't relate. There had been times when Cersei Lannister had scared her more that Joffrey. But Margaery had always been able to handle anything. "And once it's all settled my family will officially be glued to the Lannisters and all will be swell."

"But you'll be married to Joffrey." Sansa said candidly.

Margaery laughed, a full laugh that almost woke up the people sleeping in the rose bush nearby. "Oh, I'll be fine. Better than fine, in fact. Besides," Then she shrugged and smiled down at her tea. It was a different smile, personal and private. "Marriages don't last forever."

Sansa wanted to ask more but Margaery's eyes lit up and her hand gently slapped Sansa's knee.

"How do you always manage to do this? You always turn the conversation back on me, this is about you. Let's talk about you and how I'm going to make this up to you. Come to Highgarden."

"Really, Margaery, I can't. I shouldn't have even invited you last night." Sansa shook her head.

She felt Margaery place her hand overtop her own and looked down at them.

"I'm glad you did."

"Why? So you could wave your engagement ring in my face and watch me fall apart?"

"No! So I could make up for all the wrongs I did you." She insisted.

Sansa shook her head. "You're all talk, aren't you?"

Margaery moved her hand away and choked on her next few words, "I suppose you can no longer be persuaded? Not even for just a little holiday in the sun once winter hits here?" Sansa didn't budge. Margaery pouted. "I suppose I'll just have to find another way to convince you. You haven't seen the last of me yet, Sansa Stark."

"I wish you'd just give up." Sansa said sadly. It hurt her heart to look at Margaery, who she'd wanted so badly to be friends with, to trust and confide in. It felt as if the space between them was miles apart, a rift that could never be bridged.

Down the drive a black SUV pulled up.

"That's my ride," Margaery said. "I called for him last night. Loras and Renly are parting ways with us, they can only stand so much time with Joff, I'm afraid. Plus they're probably still passed out on your pool chair and won't be up for hours." She chuckled and looked down the lawn with a smile. "Could you be a dear and help me with him?"

They glanced down in the rose bushes where Joffrey lay unconscious. Dried blood and puke had coated his pant legs, was crusted around his mouth.

"He stayed?" Sansa said, staring down at him.

"I watched him spend the whole night trying to work up enough drunken courage to go through the door again. Eventually he just passed out here. You're right, you know. He can be a right cretin sometimes."

_Then why in the seven hells are you marrying him?_ Sansa wondered for the umpteenth time.

"Could you grab his arm and help me?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Oh, please?" Margaery pouted "He's still so drunk it'll be like rolling a little blonde log down the hill."

"No way." Sansa said.

"I swear to you, this is the last time you'll ever have to see Joffrey Lannister. Semi-conscious mumbling and covered in his own puke, isn't that a good last image?"

Sansa had a hard time denying that. The last sight of Joffrey, and for that matter, of Margaery, forever.

She groaned and followed Margaery down the porch steps. The movement roused him slightly and he shouted incoherently in her ear as he tried to regain his bearings. He smelled terrible. As he lifted his head he turned to Margaery and placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek, which she accepted with a hesitant smile. Then he turned to Sansa.

"And you're here too." He slurred at her. His breath stunk. "Both my girlfriends!" He turned back to Margaery, "You're much prettier though, and a much better kisser. Better everything really."

"That's kind dear, now please stop talking." Margaery said, with both eyes trained ahead.

"You got away from me." He said to Sansa "Thank the gods. Worthless bitch."

"Margaery." Sansa warned.

"Just a few more steps." She promised.

Sansa would've dropped him right there, but someone was emerging from the driver's side door to save the day.

"Oh thank the Seven." Margaery groaned as they stopped in front of the car. "Willas, if you could just take him from my arm? I'll set up a spot for him in the back."

Sansa stared as Willas Tyrell approached, limping around the hood of his car with his cane and then leaving it behind to hop over to his sister's side and take her place.

"Just take a bit of his weight so our darling Sansa doesn't get slobbered on by my lovely fiancee." Margaery said as Willas maneuvered his way under Joffrey's arm.

"Okay, Marge." He said, looping Joffrey's arm around his neck. "How was the party?"

"Fabulous." Margaery called from the back seat. "Right Sansa?" She said, peeking her head out and winking at her.

Sansa shook her head in disbelief.

"So, you're Sansa Stark?" Willas asked, peering at her over Joffrey's head.

Sansa strained to see him over Joffrey's blonde head. Willas was a handsome man. He had Loras' curls, only darker and shorter, and his smile was tired and gentle. He was older, but his eyes were kind; they had bags underneath them, probably from driving all night at Margaery's request.

"Yes." She said, too quiet to say anything else. She'd heard a lot about Willas Tyrell, from Margaery, during her time in King's Landing, but she'd never seen him. Not even in pictures.

She knew he was accomplished in his studies, he was very smart, no one seemed to have a bad opinion of him. And she knew he stopped his younger brother from being bullied as a boy, so he was kind as well. He looked it. It was almost hard to believe since he shared the same eyes as Margaery and hers always looked so sharp and cunning. His eyes just looked tired, except when he smiled at her.

"It's nice to finally meet you." He said "Margaery's told me quite a bit about you." He shifted awkwardly, unable to put much weight on his other leg. "I only wish it was under better circumstances."

"Face to face would've been nice." Sansa groaned, and she could hear him laugh from the other side of Joffrey, who promptly began to throw up. "Oh my god." Sansa said trying to escape the rain of puke.

"Don't worry." Margaery said, popping out of the car. "I'm here to save the day." Joffrey pulled his arm, smacking Sansa across the head in the process, and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "Sansa don't rush off. I want to give you a proper goodbye hug." Margaery said as she hoisted Joffrey off Willas' shoulders and led him to the back seat, shutting the door behind her.

Willas quickly limped over to his cane but Sansa rushed to hand it to him. He smiled and accepted it from her hand, they leaned against the hood of the car. Sansa could feel his eyes on her.

After a moment of rest, Willas straightened up at offered his hand. "Nice to finally meet you." He said, smiling.

"Nice to meet you too." Sansa said, shaking his hand before resting against the car again.

"Margaery says you'll be visiting us in Highgarden soon." He said.

"Oh, did she?" She said, staring up the big house at the top of the hill.

"Though, it's quite beautiful here and I can see why you might no be eager to leave." Willas said. "But my sister is very excited."

"Well, nothing's settled." Sansa said.

"I hope you make the trip, Highgarden is beautiful all year round," He smiled, "You'd make a lovely addition."

Sansa turned to look at him, expecting the same confident smirk as Margaery, who rarely ever saw her flatteries fail. But Willas had this way about him: He exuberated a perfectly serene confidence. It wasn't boastful, or eager to prove, it was genuine goodness and happiness. It was as refreshing as the winds that were beginning to blow over the trees.

"I have to admit I was disappointed when you couldn't make it last year. I always enjoy meeting my sister's friends," he leaned in closer, "Though I'm not thrilled about her latest choices."

"I have to agree with you there." Sansa whispered back.

"I heard about what he did... to you." He said delicately.

Sansa froze. "I suppose everyone has. Truthfully, I'd be surprised if you didn't know."

"I'm sure it goes without saying but, no one... no one should have to go through that. I understand it, why you don't want to be anywhere near Margaery, why you don't want to trust her, or talk to her ever again. When she told me what she was doing I spent months ignoring her calls, freezing her out. I couldn't talk to her, I couldn't even look at her. I couldn't believe all she'd done. She's always thinking of the good of family and she'll do whatever it takes to bring that about, even when she has to trample over others to do so. And since I know she'd never say it, let me say on her behalf, how sorry she is for all she didn't do." He sighed, "And I'm sorry I didn't do anything either."

"What could you have done?" Sansa said quietly, her hands playing nervously with the hem of her sleeve.

"Something." He shrugged. "Anything."

"You didn't even know me." She said.

"I knew enough." He said. "I could've helped you."

"It's okay," Sansa said, "I helped myself. I think that's what I needed to do. It's Margaery you need to worry about now."

"Yes, I'm not giving up on her just yet. I could use some help, though." He said. "You and I should start planning now. That way we'll be ready when you come to Highgarden." His determination made her smile. Charm ran in the Tyrell family, but while Margaery's put on a show, Willas' seemed quiet and sincere. His eyes were so clear and calm as they smiled down at Sansa, "You really should come visit."

"Are you going to tell me about the beautiful gardens and the music and the flowers and the dancing?" She asked. "Margaery's already done the sales pitch."

"No." Willas said, straightening up as best he could and facing her. "But I'll be there, and I'd like to get to know you better."

"Look I don't know what all Margaery's told you but-"

"She says your kind, and that you love your family, so I understand you're not wanting to leave them since you've just gotten them back. She said you're more clever than you let on. I know you're frightened and that you've been through more than a woman your age should ever have to handle." Sansa stood up straighter as Willas stared awkwardly at his feet, "I'm not one for dancing, I'm sure that much is obvious, so I'll have to leave that to Margaery. She says she wants to make it up to you, but I don't think that's why you should come."

"No?" Sansa asked quietly. "Why do you think?"

"I think you should come and see a little more of what's good in the world." He said, nodding ever so casually. "I think I could do that. I could show you that, if you'd let me."

He hadn't looked up at her, so he couldn't see the honest smile that was slowly growing on her lips, but it was there. And as he gripped his cane tighter and tensed his arm, shifting his weight around nervously she felt this warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. He looked up in time to see that she was speechless. All she did was smile, almost imperceptibly, and when he smiled in return hers grew tenfold.

The passenger door opened and Margaery appeared. "We've got to get going." She said.

Willas quickly squeezed her hand, "Just, think about it." He asked. He walked around to the driver's side, then he stopped to turn back to Sansa.

"It was nice to meet you." he said.

"You too." Sansa nodded.

"We'll have to start our plotting soon." Willas said.

"I suppose we will." Sansa agreed.

"Plotting what?" Margaery asked, moving up to the passenger's side door.

"Nothing," Willas said. "Nothing at all." Then he climbed into the driver's side.

"We'll see you soon, won't we?" Margaery said.

Sansa wrapped her arms around herself as a cold wind, warnings of the coming winter, blew through the estate, "Maybe." She said, though her hesitancy was fading.

Margaery's smile still hadn't disappeared as she giggled and hugged Sansa tightly.

"See," She said, looking back as Willas sitting in the driver's seat, sipping his coffee and rubbing his eyes. When he noticed them watching he blanched and waved awkwardly. The girls returned the wave. Margaery turned around and winked at Sansa, "Told you I had a plan to make it up to you."

Margaery smiled as she slid into her seat. The car pulled down the drive and Sansa watched, slightly dumbfounded, until it was completely out of sight. Then she began the trek back up to the house. She sat on the porch until the sun was high in the sky, and the zombie-like partygoers around her returned to life.

Slowly, people were starting to rise, groaning at their hangovers, though a few were still drunk and stumbling, trying to collect themselves, their friends, and their possessions so they could continue on with their day and return to wherever they came from. They cleared out quickly, and Sansa watched as they laughed and groaned and waved goodbyes while hiding embarrassed faces. And soon, after the sun had risen and warmed the ground below their feet, it was only the Starks, the Baratheons, and the Reeds left on the estate.

They went down to the backyard, still littered, despite Sansa's best efforts, with bottles and cups and cigarette stubs. Shoes and napkins, toiler paper and garbage and bits of food. Lost possessions that would never be reclaimed, car keys, cell phones, sweaters, bongs, bags of pills, pool floaties, they all lay scattered across the grass. But they went ignored as they set up a table and brought out enough food to feed an army.

Arya was laughing with Jon as they fought over bacon, she leaned over and planted a syrup covered kiss on Gendry's cheek, that was a new development, though Sansa couldn't say it was surprising. Jon rolled his eyes and grumbled something to Ygritte, who rolled her eyes punched him in the arm and told him he knew nothing, then kissed him. Robb was seated at the head of the table, pouring Talisa a fresh cup of tea. Bran was sitting with Jojen and Meera, smiling and laughing. Rickon was seat next to Shireen, and the two of them were feeding the direwolves. Shaggy's head was in Shireen lap and Edric and Mya were playing with Nymeria and Grey Wind. Summer stood dutifully on the side as always while Ghost ran the perimeter.

Sansa felt fur sliding under her hand and found Lady by her side. she scratched behind her ears and received a sweet lick on her chin when she leaned down to hug her friend.

"How're you doing?" Rickon asked. Sansa looked up and found her brother watching her. She straightened up and stood next to him.

"I'm doing... better. Much better, I think." She said. "What about you?"

"I'm good." he said, nodding.

"And how's she?" Sansa asked, pointing to Shireen.

"She's good too." Rickon said.

"She better stay that way." Sansa said.

"Look, I've already been threatened by Arya, and Jon, and Gendry and all the other Baratheons, all before breakfast. I don't need it from you too." He said.

"I'm not going to threaten you." She said. "Just, be kind to her. She's a nice girl, don't change that. Few of us get to stay that way."

Rickon wrapped an arm around his sister, "I won't." He said simply. They stared at their big, stupid, laughing family. "Look at us, we're just... happy."

Sansa smiled as her eyes roamed around the loud, bustling table. "Yeah, we are."

Rickon nodded and moved his arm from around her shoulder. "Fucking finally." He said, exhaling the words out like a sigh of relief.

He sat back down in his seat next to Shireen and Sansa took hers at the head of the table opposite Robb.

"Nice of you to join us, Sansa." Robb joked.

"Sorry I was cleaning up around the front." She said.

"Who called it?" Bran asked. Shouts erupted and money changed hands and Rickon and Arya began to argue about betting pools.

"Ha ha," Sansa deadpanned. "You're all hilarious." She poured herself cup of tea as the family continued to shout across the table and as she sipped it quietly she watched them and smiled. Her eyes landed on Robb sitting across the table.

"You okay?" He mouthed silently.

Sansa smiled. "I'm great." She said.

Robb smiled and shushed everyone with a booming yell.

"Alright, alright, time to get down to business." Robb said, he sipped his tea and leaned back, placing an arm around Talisa's shoulder, "What the fuck happened last night?"

Again, they all started speaking at once. After a few seconds Rickon was shushing them all.

"I believe Arya has some insight into that." he smirked.

Arya rolled her eyes as Gendry leaned forward in her chair, "Go on," He said, "You know where to start."

"Oh this should be good." Jon smiled.

"How much have you heard?" Rickon asked him.

"Not much," Jon admitted, "Just that she was here last year and-"

"What?!" Bran shouted.

"At the party?" Sansa asked.

Gendry laughed and sat back in his chair and Arya sat up straight, all eyes on the table on her. She turned to Gendry, "It's good to be home." She said.

"Stop smiling and start explaining yourself." Robb said.

"When the fuck were you here last year?" Bran asked, completely confused.

"Ask Rickon. He knew." She said. As all eyes turned on him.

"Thanks, sis." Rickon groaned.

Arya's smile grew as conversation broke out again throughout the table. "Quiet." She said. They continued on, "Quiet!" She shouted. "Everybody shut up!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

They quieted down and turned their attention back to Arya. She held them in a quiet suspense for a moment, and enjoyed the anticipation.

She took a deep breath, "It all started three years ago."

They settled begrudgingly in their seats and ate their breakfast as Arya told her story, "See, I was travelling with this vigilante group called the Brotherhood, Gendry was there too, and naturally he decided to be an idiot..."

She continued her story, a lighter, calmer version than the one she'd told Gendry just a few hours ago. As she spoke they laughed, and Gendry rested his hand on her knee, and Nymeria sat at her feet eating scraps from her hand. Once she was done everyone added their own stories from through the years. Jon talked about his time away from the Wall. Sansa and May shared their journey from the Vale. The Reeds talked about travelling with Bran. Gendry and Jon recounted their time searching for Arya.

They talked for forever, until the sun rose over the Stark Estate and the direwolves sought refuge under the shade of an old white tree.


End file.
